What is the inquiry examining?
The Home Affairs Committee is examining whether the Government’s current approach to work-based immigration is likely to achieve its stated objective of reducing reliance on overseas recruitment while supporting greater investment in the domestic workforce.
A central focus will be the Skilled Worker route. The Committee is considering whether the current framework is effective in meeting labour market needs without weakening incentives for employers and sectors to recruit, train and upskill workers already in the UK.
The inquiry will also look at how decisions are made about which occupations qualify for work visas. That includes the evidence used to identify labour shortages, the role of skills and salary thresholds and the extent to which immigration access should depend on wider workforce planning within particular sectors.
More broadly, the Committee will consider how labour shortages should be addressed and whether immigration policy is sufficiently aligned with domestic skills policy. The inquiry therefore goes beyond the operation of individual visa routes and looks at how Government decides when overseas recruitment is justified, how long access should continue and what should be expected of employers and sectors in return.
Why has the inquiry been launched now?
The inquiry comes as the Government continues to reshape work-based immigration around a closer relationship between migration, skills and domestic workforce policy. The 2025 immigration white paper set out an explicit objective to reduce reliance on overseas labour and increase recruitment, training and participation within the UK workforce.
That approach is already reflected in changes to the Skilled Worker route. That approach is already reflected in changes to the Skilled Worker route. The general skills threshold was raised to RQF level 6 in July 2025, while access to occupations below that level is now more restricted, subject to the Immigration Salary List, the interim Temporary Shortage List and transitional provisions. The Government’s intended longer-term model for the Temporary Shortage List is designed to link access more closely to evidence of shortage, strategic economic importance and credible plans to increase recruitment and training from the domestic workforce. The Migration Advisory Committee published its final recommendations for the future list in July 2026, although those recommendations have not yet been implemented in the Immigration Rules.
The Home Affairs Committee is now examining whether that policy approach is likely to work in practice. Its inquiry follows the Committee’s wider work on public attitudes to work-based immigration, which identified support among participants for prioritising the training and recruitment of UK workers before overseas recruitment.
For employers, the timing is therefore significant. The inquiry is taking place while the criteria governing access to sponsored workers are already becoming more closely connected to wider questions about skills shortages, workforce development and the extent to which sectors can demonstrate a continuing need for overseas recruitment.
What could this mean for employers?
The inquiry does not change the current Immigration Rules, but it is examining questions that could shape how access to sponsored workers develops in future.
One area of particular relevance is the extent to which employers and sectors may be expected to demonstrate that overseas recruitment is being used to address genuine labour or skills shortages, rather than as a substitute for domestic recruitment and training.
There may also be greater scrutiny of the evidence used to determine which occupations remain eligible for sponsorship. For sectors that depend heavily on international recruitment, changes to occupation eligibility could have a direct impact on workforce planning, recruitment pipelines and the ability to fill specialist or persistent shortage roles.
The inquiry also reflects a broader policy shift towards linking immigration access more closely with domestic workforce development. Employers may therefore need to give greater attention to how recruitment, training, retention and skills planning are evidenced, particularly where overseas hiring forms a significant part of the workforce model.
For now, there is no immediate change to sponsor duties or Skilled Worker eligibility as a result of the inquiry itself. The significance lies in the questions being asked and the possibility that future policy could place greater weight on sector-level workforce planning and the justification for continued access to overseas labour.
What happens next?
The Home Affairs Committee is accepting written evidence as part of the inquiry until 11:59pm on 27 October 2026. Submissions can address the operation of the Skilled Worker route, occupation eligibility, labour shortages, domestic skills policy and the wider relationship between immigration and workforce planning.
The Committee may then hold oral evidence sessions with ministers, officials, employers, sector bodies and other stakeholders before publishing its findings and recommendations.
The inquiry itself does not amend the Immigration Rules and does not create any immediate new obligations for sponsors. Any policy or legislative changes would follow separately through the relevant Government and parliamentary processes.
Employers that rely on international recruitment should, however, follow the inquiry closely. Its findings could influence future decisions on which occupations remain open to sponsorship, how shortage evidence is assessed and whether greater weight is placed on domestic recruitment, training and workforce strategies when access to overseas labour is considered.
DavidsonMorris Strategic Insight for Employers
The inquiry raises a fundamental policy question for UK employers: when should international recruitment form part of the response to workforce shortages?
Recent reforms point towards a more interventionist model. For occupations below RQF level 6 in particular, the Government’s intended approach to future Temporary Shortage List access places increasing weight on labour shortages, strategic economic need and credible plans to increase use of the domestic workforce, alongside the applicable immigration requirements.
Labour shortages can arise for very different reasons. Employers may face shortages of experienced workers, long training pipelines, regional recruitment difficulties or demand for specialist skills that take years to develop. In many sectors, overseas recruitment forms part of the workforce response to those pressures.
The policy debate is therefore moving towards a closer relationship between immigration and workforce planning. Employers in shortage sectors may increasingly need to show how overseas recruitment fits alongside domestic recruitment, training and skills investment as part of their overall workforce strategy.
Need Assistance?
Employers that rely on international recruitment need to plan against a policy environment in which access to overseas workers is becoming more closely linked to skills, shortage evidence and wider workforce strategy.
DavidsonMorris advises employers on Skilled Worker sponsorship, workforce planning and the immigration implications of recruitment and organisational change. We help organisations assess current reliance on sponsored workers, identify exposure to rule changes and build immigration strategy into wider workforce planning.
Speak to our business immigration team about the implications for your organisation.
View the Home Affairs Committee Work-based Immigration inquiry and call for evidencehere >>
