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Ignacio Galan, the chief executive officer of Iberdrola SA, which owns Scottish Power Ltd has said recently that UK plans to develop renewable energy and improve power-generation and transmission systems will be serious affected by the shortage of engineers. Galan said that 80 percent of Scottish Power's engineers are likely to retire in the next 15 years.
Vince Cable the UK Business Secretary in the UK Coalition Government has also raised the issue of shortages of engineers in the UK.
The UK manufacturing sector grew by 4 percent in the 12 months leading to June 2010, twice the amount of the financial sector during the same period. But over 500 jobs remain unfilled.
Employers are complaining that the regional workforce do not have the skills to fill these positions, with those who do possess the skills working abroad.
The manufacturing sector is coming out of a downturn that was relatively short-lived.
"A year ago, we were in serious trouble," said a Sembcorp employee. "Since then, things have started to pick up a bit."
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has recommended reducing the number of occupations that are eligible for migration under Tier 2 of the points based immigration system.
The UK Border Agency (UKBA) has announced that their visa application centres in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt have been closed temporarily due to the ongoing security situation.
This also affects some visa applications for people located in Sudan and Yemen as applications for certain types of visa applications for nationals of these two countries are processed in Cairo.
For people located in Egypt, Sudan, and Yemen, the UK Border Agency recommends checking the local visa agency websites for alternative arrangements and regular updates:
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government will send "Live in Canberra" delegations to Amsterdam, London, Cape Town, Durban, Dublin, and Johannesburg in an attempt to attract skilled migrants to the Australian capital.
The Live in Canberra program will travel to these cities between 9 February and 28 February 2011. The program will work in conjunction with the ACT Government's Skilled and Business Migration Program to promote opportunities in Canberra and the lifestyle of the city.
A recent survey of 1200 Australian businesses conducted by Dun and Bradstreet found that demand for employees has reached an seven year high and that skilled migration may be the key to solving expected labour shortages.
"Policy makers will need to ensure the supply of skilled labour can keep up with demand in order to avoid wages growth adding to the inflationary pressure," said D&B chief executive Christine Christian.