Updated skilled worker rules coming for the UK
The UK’s Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has published a review of salary requirements across key UK work routes, including Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, Global Business Mobility, and Scale-Up.
While the review is not law, it is often treated by policymakers as a credible evidence base, explains legal firm Dentons. For businesses – particularly those holding sponsor licences – the recommendations are a useful indicator of where the Home Office could take the Immigration Rules next and therefore what to stress-test in workforce and remuneration planning now.
A recurring theme in the new review is simplification, said Dentons. The MAC’s proposals reduce the number of special cases and discounts and lean towards clearer, more uniform salary mechanics.
“For employers, that can be a double-edged sword. Simpler rules can reduce administrative friction, but fewer discounts can also remove flexibility that some sectors have used to make roles sponsor-eligible,” the firm said.
The review also supports a more regular, scheduled approach to updating thresholds.
“If the Home Office follows that direction, businesses should expect less “set and forget” – even where the rules do not change dramatically, salary floors could move more routinely in line with earnings data,” Dentons said.
“That shifts the risk profile. Roles that are compliant today, but only marginally so, may become non-compliant at the next uprating, affecting offer timelines, start dates and (in the worst case) visa outcomes.”
A change for skilled workers
The most eye-catching recommendation is to keep the Skilled Worker general threshold at £41,700, Dentons said.
“Many sponsors will read that as a signal that government may hold the line on the post-2024 tightening rather than pushing the general threshold materially higher again in the near term.
“However, the more practically significant change for many employers could be how occupation-specific thresholds (‘going rates’) are set. The MAC recommends setting these at the 25th percentile, rather than the median.
“If adopted, that may create additional room for some mid-market roles within certain occupations – particularly where median pay is materially higher than the lower quartile – while still aiming to manage undercutting risk,” Dentons said.
That said, the overall system would still be anchored by the general threshold and by the requirement to meet whichever salary test is highest for the role, so employers should avoid assuming this is a broad loosening.
The MAC also recommends not introducing regional salary thresholds. For employers operating across the UK, that reduces the risk of a complex “postcode-based” eligibility framework, but also signals that lower regional pay norms are unlikely to be reflected in sponsorship salary floors, Dentons said.
“In practice, multi-site employers may face continued pressure to uplift pay for sponsored roles in lower-wage locations, with knock-on internal equity considerations.”
Temporary shortage list
The MAC’s approach to the Temporary Shortage List (TSL) is notably cautious. It suggests a general salary floor no lower than around £30,900, occupation-specific thresholds set at the median and no discounts.
“In other words, the MAC is signalling that shortage should not translate into materially cheaper sponsorship. For employers, this matters because “shortage list” thinking can sometimes be built into business cases as a way to manage cost,” Dentons said.
“If the government follows the MAC here, TSL access may assist eligibility but not necessarily affordability, especially for employers seeking to sponsor early-career individuals into shortage occupations.”
