UK's tech talent pipeline shrinks as overseas worker visa applications fall 7%
Third consecutive annual decline adds to concerns about shortages of specialist skills
Fewer skilled overseas workers are applying for UK tech visas, with numbers down for the third year running even as ministers talk up Britain's chances in the global technology race.
The tally fell 7 percent, from 37,376 applications in 2024 to 34,936 last year, according to UK Visas and Immigration figures obtained by accounting company RSM UK and shared with The Register.
That's a long way from the 53,729 applications recorded in 2022, when the numbers peaked. RSM reckons the decline risks making an already difficult hunt for tech talent even harder.
The underlying data also shows which occupations accounted for most of the overseas tech recruitment. Programmers and software developers were by far the largest group in 2025, with 15,689 certificates, followed by IT business analysts, architects, and systems designers with 11,821. IT quality and testing professionals...
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