The United Kingdom is experiencing a skills shortage across different industries that could impact the country’s economic growth. However, UK-based container businesses that are growing rapidly but struggling to find skilled staff can hire international talent with the UK Scale-up Visa.
The UK ports industry, where the container shipping business is domiciled, is one of the largest in Europe, and it handles 95% of UK import and export by volume. It’s apparent that companies operating in this sector must have access to a skilled and adaptable workforce to help the industry maintain its momentum.
Through the scale-up route, businesses have more flexibility to recruit skilled talent and boost their productivity. This article explores why the Scale-up Worker Visa is an ideal choice for recruiting staff in the container industry, highlighting its benefits and impact on business growth.
What is the Scale-up Worker Visa?
The Scale-up Worker Visa allows fast-growing or scale-up businesses to sponsor top talent globally to work for them in the UK. It is primarily designed for sectors experiencing significant growth, like the container industry, allowing them to hire foreign workers with the skills and expertise to support their rapidly growing organisations.
The Scale-up Visa is a sponsored work visa that requires employers to have a Home Office sponsor licence to recruit employees. Additionally, recruits must have a formal job offer and a certificate of sponsorship to obtain their work visa.
If an application for this immigration route is successful, the scale-up worker can stay in the UK for two years. After their first six months in the UK, they can undertake another job without sponsorship, except a professional sportsperson job, and be self-employed.
When their visa expires, they can apply for an extension for an additional three years as long as they still meet the eligibility requirements. After five years of living in the UK, they may be able to apply for permanent settlement.
What are the Pros of Using the Scale-up Visa to Recruit Foreign Talent?
Low-cost Visa Option
One key advantage of the Scale-up Visa is that it offers significant cost benefits compared to other traditional employer-sponsored visas.
Firstly, the minimum income threshold for the Scale-up Visa is set at £36,300 per year. This is lower than the threshold for the Skilled Worker Visa, which stands at £38,700 per year. Additionally, sponsors benefit from further cost reductions as the Immigration Skills Charge is not payable under the Scale-up Visa scheme.
This translates to lower financial obligations for sponsoring companies, especially those in their scaling phase that need to expand their workforce without incurring substantial expenses.
Greater Flexibility
Under the Scale-up Worker route, employees are only required to stay with their sponsoring employer for the initial six months, after which they can change jobs. This means they are not tied to one employer for the entire duration of their visa.
For business owners, this flexibility translates into several advantages. Employers can change an employee’s job role to one outside the eligible occupations for the scale-up route. This can reduce the administrative burden associated with Home Office reporting and recording duties expected of licenced sponsors.
Furthermore, this flexibility can make businesses more attractive to skilled talent. Offering a visa route that allows for greater career mobility can make a business appeal to employees who value career progression and the ability to seek better opportunities as they arise.
How to Become a UK Scale-up Sponsor
Businesses that intend to sponsor foreign talent for the scale-up route must meet specific eligibility criteria. The primary requirement is that they must either:
- Be endorsed by an approved body
- Be an eligible fast-growing or scale-up business
To qualify as an eligible fast-growing business, they must have:
- Grown by 20% on average yearly in either employment or turnover within the three years immediately before the Home Office approved them as a scale-up sponsor.
- Had a minimum of 10 employees at the start of the three-year period
Scale-up sponsors must also obtain a valid sponsor licence from the Home Office. The process involves submitting an application, demonstrating the ability to comply with sponsorship duties, and undergoing a compliance assessment by the Home Office.
Sponsoring organisations will also need to pay the sponsor licence fee, which ranges between £536 to £1,476, depending on the business size.
An employer who has been successfully licenced to hire scale-up workers will be listed in the government’s list of approved sponsors and have ‘Scale-up Worker’ stated in the ‘Route’ column of the list.
Who Can Apply for the Scale-up Worker Visa?
Employees who intend to work for container companies via the scale-up worker route must meet the following requirements:
- They must be aged 18 or over
- They must have a job offer for a role listed on the eligible occupations list.
- They must have a certificate of sponsorship from a scale-up business approved by the Home Office.
- They must meet the required skills for the role, which is at an RQF 6 level.
- They must intend to work in the sponsored job for at least six months.
- The job must pay a minimum income of at least £33,000 annually or the going rate for the role, whichever is higher.
- They must have at least £1,270 to support themselves in their first month in the UK.
As part of the Scale-up Visa requirements, applicants are also expected to have sufficient knowledge of English. They’ll be required to prove their English proficiency by passing a Secure English Language Test (SELT) or providing an approved academic qualification taught in English.
Conclusion
The UK Scale-up Visa offers container companies an opportunity to recruit skilled talent from around the world and address their staffing needs. The scale-up immigration pathway is a preferred visa option for both employers and employees due to its low cost requirements and flexibility benefits.
