Does Having a Sponsorship License Mean a Company Is Hiring Foreigners?
The UK is home to more than 6 million businesses, and it is one of the most start-up friendly countries in the world. As of March 2023, around 2.7 million businesses in the UK were registered either for VAT (value-added tax) or PAYE (pay as you earn), meaning those companies were likely to be hiring employees. With 2.7 million companies hiring, why are you not getting visa-sponsored jobs?
Understanding Visa Sponsorship in the UK
In order to hire a foreign national, a UK company needs to hold a valid sponsorship license. Before Brexit, companies would also have to go through a residence labour market test (RLMT) to hire a non-EU citizen, but it is not a requirement anymore, and all EU and non-EU candidates are treated equally.
As of July 2024, there are more than 116,000 companies in the UK that hold a sponsorship license. However, it represents only 4% of businesses that hire staff. Surprised?
Now, you might be thinking 116,000 is still quite a large number, so it must be easy to find a visa sponsored job. However, the reality is not that simple.
Challenges in Finding Visa-Sponsoring Employers
Despite the seemingly substantial number of licensed companies, securing a job with visa sponsorship remains challenging for several reasons.
Financial Implication
First of all, hiring a foreign national incurs extra costs. For example, to hire a foreign national, a company may need to pay a certificate of sponsorship fee, immigration skills charge, immigration health surcharge, visa application fees, solicitor fees etc. If a company hires a foreign national on a permanent contract, they may need to spend £10,000 extra than hiring a local person. £10,000 is a pretty big expense for the majority of those companies.
In addition, to employ a foreigner, a position needs to meet a certain salary threshold. You do not see many entry-level jobs or administrative, marketing, PR, or HR jobs that hire foreign nationals because expenses do not justify what the companies get in return. For graduate jobs too, most companies prefer hiring students who are already in the UK on a student visa, as there is no need to pay immigration skills charges for hiring them.
Time and Administrative Burden
The time involved in hiring someone can be long. If a company urgently needs someone, they often go for a UK national or someone who has their own right to work in the UK. To hire a foreign national, a company has to complete a lengthy visa application process, background checks and relocation, which can take anywhere between 2 months to 5 months. Also, there is still a chance of a person not passing the background check or not being granted a visa.
Regulatory and Security Consideration
For some positions, a company can only hire locals due to security clearance or other regulatory reasons. For example, although some technology or consulting firms have valid sponsorship licenses, they work with the government or other organisations that are directly linked to national security or deal with sensitive information. In these cases, companies do not provide sponsorship for certain positions.
When Do They Sponsor?
Due to the time and cost involved in hiring someone who does not have a valid permit to work in the UK, many companies only provide sponsorship if they struggle to find a suitable candidate from the local market or there is a known skills shortage in their industry. Very typical examples are healthcare, IT and engineering jobs. Although there is an increasing demand for healthcare professionals or engineers, the local UK market does not have enough people to meet the demand. That’s why many organisations in these sectors are willing to provide visa sponsorship.
In some cases, it is down to company strategy. Some companies emphasise hiring the brightest. Those companies hire the best qualified candidates regardless of where they are.
What Industries Hire the Most?
Not everyone wants to work in healthcare or engineering because these industries require you to have a specific background and education. There are many other occupations in which foreign nationals are very common. Those industries include accounting, professional services, consulting, financial services, insurance, oil & gas, civil engineering, legal services, education and technology companies. If you are keen to find a visa sponsoring job in the UK, you may start from these industries. If you think you do not have specific required skills, you can always spend time developing those skills on your own and by attending online courses.
How Do UK Visa Jobs Help?
Some people may consider knocking on the door of those 116,000 companies one by one, sending them emails and asking for jobs. This approach can be very time-consuming, and by the time you have finished the list, you might as well need to retire and don’t need a job anymore. That’s why UK Visa Jobs is a brilliant platform for searching for visa sponsoring jobs in the UK. Though UK Visa Jobs does not include all positions that sponsor a work visa, at least jobs on UK Visa Jobs are verified either by contacting employers directly or using information from official sources, and they all hire foreign nationals and provide sponsorship, saving your massive time and effort.
