Second only the United States in small satellite production, the Scottish space sector is poised for expansion as it looks to Earth observation, manufacturing and satellite connectivity.
With more opportunities to strengthen its position in the global market and pursue new opportunities for growth and investment, the sector will need to fill a number of skilled jobs - with both local and overseas talent.
Within a thriving UK-wide sector there are hopes that the industry north of the border could in due course support around 20,000 jobs compared to approximately 8,500 today. Additionally, the annual global space sector is forecast to grow by up to 11% over the next decade.
The ongoing investment into the sector will provide a launchpad to propel space-related activities in Scotland to a new level but the government and companies involved in the sector will need to ensure there’s a future pipeline of space talent to capitalise on these strengths and secure a significant share of the economic prize.
Homegrown talent and people who have already chosen to study, live and work here will be key in helping the sector to sidestep any skills shortage in future, and there will be a need for industry stakeholders to ensure those personnel opt to remain part of the Scottish space age rather than look for opportunities elsewhere.
However, overseas workers, across the spectrum of specialist disciplines, could also constitute a highly important pool of talent. And within our post-Brexit immigration system, there are multiple visa options open to employers as well as to the overseas employees they might wish to target in their recruitment strategies.
Kelly Hardman, Solicitor at Fragomen
These routes can broadly be divided into sponsored and unsponsored categories. The former positions government-licensed employers to recruit overseas workers within the parameters of various conditions, while the latter allows workers to come to the UK based primarily on their personal attributes. Sector employers, are encouraged to download the full Space Immigration Guide, prepared by Fragomen and the Space Skills Ailliance, which outlines the main visa options, summarising various considerations and the best strategy going forward.
For additional information, join Fragomen and the Space Skills Alliance for a webcast on Thursday, February 8, from 2pm-3pm [GMT], which will focus the prospective skills shortage and how businesses and workers can best navigate the UK immigration system. This timely event comes on the heels of the Space Investment Forum in Edinburgh on January 30 and the Space Suppliers Summit in Glasgow on February 6 and 7 - events which underline the growing profile of the sector in Scotland.
With the UK Government recently introducing visa fee increases that render the UK’s immigration system one of the most expensive in the world, businesses generally are fully entitled to ask what such fees deliver – there’s been a historic promise of funding for the training and development of workers in shortage, for example.
They would be equally justified in posing the question about how they can have their say on what immigration policies should be in place to advance their interests – and those of vital UK sectors such as the space sector.
Edinburgh-based Kelly Hardman is a solicitor (senior manager) with Fragomen, the world’s leading provider of immigration services. The webinar – Attracting Talent To The Space Sector: Navigating The UK Immigration System – takes place on Thursday, February 8 [2024], 2pm to 3pm.
To register, visit: https://pages.fragomen.com/ON2024-02-08EMEAAttractingTalentToTheSpaceSectorNavigatingTheUKImmigrationSystem_OnlineEventRegistration.html
Fragomen’s Guide to Attracting Talent to the Space Sector: Navigating the UK Immigration System:
Fragomen's Guide to Attracting Talent to the Space Sector: Navigating the UK Immigration System | Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy LLP