UK government urged to act on Stem training and visas
Campaign for Science and Engineering says skills shortage is costing economy £1.5 billion a year
If the UK is to become the ‘science superpower’ the government wants it to, then it must do more to support training and education in Stem and redesign the visa system to attract more international talent, according to a new report by the Campaign for Science and Engineering’s (CaSE).
The shortage of Stem skills is an ongoing problem and has been estimated to cost the UK economy £1.5 billion per year, the report notes. In 2021, the government acknowledged that the R&D sector will need at least an additional 150,000 researchers and technicians by 2030 if the country wants to realise its ambitions for R&D. The same year, the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) estimated a shortfall of over 173,000 workers in the Stem sector.