Add Native Language Skills for Technical Sales to the Shortage Occupation List Language skills are vital in a world in which increasing numbers of businesses have a global presence and communicate in multiple languages. The UK is very much a hot spot for these types of companies and have hubs here from which they manage a vast number of their customers across many countries. These employers require multilingual staff, ideally native speakers of languages including French, German, Italian, Spanish and Chinese to name but a few. Since 2019, the UK has seen a steep decrease in EU nationals able to look for work in the UK with Brexit meaning a clampdown on free movement from the EU. In the first three quarters of 2023, 11,600 EU citizens were turned away at the border in comparison to 2,200 in 2019. At the same time, reports published showed that there has been a decrease in language learning skills in schools. With Linked In data from this month demonstrating more 2,000 roles currently open in the UK for German speakers, the same for French and Mandarin and 1,000 for Italian, it is apparent that fears from employers since 2019 that a shortfall for these skills would emerge were certainly justified. Whilst the Government has acknowledged that language skills are “increasingly important” for business, trade and competitiveness in the global marketplace and vital for many UK employers, they are yet to take steps to find a workable solution. Alliance Consulting has submitted a petition to the Government requesting the inclusion of I.T/Technical Sales staff to the shortage occupation list. Please show your support by following the link below and adding your signature. Thank you. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/657989