UK tech faces hiring crunch despite AI visa push
Applications from overseas tech workers wanting to move to the UK have dropped significantly, adding to concerns over talent shortages in one of the economy’s faster growing sectors.
New data by accountancy firm RSM UK found the number of international workers applying for a UK visa to work in tech dropped 11 per cent from 8,739 in the second quarter of last year, to 7,768 in the third.
That number was also six per cent below the same period the year prior, when 8,233 job applications were recorded.
The fall clashes with rising public sector efforts to position the country as a global AI hub, including recently announced plans to reimburse visa fees and fast-track processing for AI talent.
James Bull, tech industry senior analyst at RSM, said: “Tech businesses are being hit with both a decline in skilled immigration and existing talent shortages”.
“Workforce is likely to be one of the biggest challenges for the UK tech industry in the year ahead. Tech businesses are facing a lack of future-proof skills, which risks hindering growth and innovation”.
Meanwhile, the firm’s latest tech outlook found 22 per cent of UK tech leaders citing employee engagement as their biggest workforce hurdle, closely followed by the cost of homegrown talent, at 19 per cent, and the up-skilling of non-tech staff, at 17 per cent.
Bull added: “The war on talent is a real issue in the tech industry. Individuals with the ‘right’ specialist skills are few and far between, and businesses are struggling to upskill their existing staff fast enough.”
Government pushes AI visas as founders look abroad
Faltering visa applications are clashing with recent government pledges to facilitate routes for high-skilled workers to enter the UK.
AI minister Kanishka Narayan, speaking at the London AI Hub earlier this month, announced that a dedicated AI ‘talent stream’ would reimburse visa fees and speed up processing for international skilled workers.
Narayan’s promise falls alongside broader commitments in the UK’s industrial strategy to create a ‘global talent taskforce’ to support high-growth sectors like AI and cybersecurity.
But Carolyn Dawson, chief executive of Founders Forum Group, has previously said the UK risks falling behind in the global AI race without a “two-pronged approach” combining global talent with homegrown skills development.
This pressure on attracting talent also comes as broader mobility trends show a worrying exodus of British entrepreneurs.
Indeed, Rathbones analysis published on Monday found that 5,940 business owners left the UK between January 2024, and January 2026. Software was among the most affected sectors leading the outflow.
The same report showed that the UAE, Spain and the US were the most popular destinations.
Michelle White, head of private office at Rathbones Group, said the findings reflect a “clear shift” in where UK entrepreneurs choose to base themselves.
Meanwhile, demand for AI skills is only rising, with the British Chambers of Commerce recently showing 71 per cent of British firms investing in the technology in 2025, while 40 per cent of small businesses admit they lack the internal skills to deploy them.
Overall vacancies have tumbled for 27 consecutive months, but starting salaries for specialist IT and AI roles are rising at their fastest rate in nearly 18 months.