Shortage Occupation List (SOL) for the fashion sector in the new points-based immigration system

Fashion Roundtable has produced a research document to analyse the current situation related to the Shortage Occupation List (SOL) for the fashion sector in the new points-based immigration system, applying to EU and EEA workers coming in the UK starting 1 January 2020.

The UK has left the EU, and as a consequence, from January 2021, EU-citizens willing to work in the UK will have to comply with the new points-based immigration system. Covid-19 has amplified the challenges for the UK labour market, which before the two major events, was benefiting from free movement in the EU. The fashion and artistic creation (creative) industries combined had a turnover of £84.4b in 2017 and employed more than 730,000 people in the same year, as released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In this paper, we analyse the current situation of job profiles in the textiles, footwear and clothing industry in the context of the Shortage Occupation List (SOL) together with the points-based immigration system.