The Scottish Government

FRESH TALENT: WORKING IN SCOTLAND SCHEME

SIX MONTHLY REPORT OF PARTICIPANTS

FIRST REPORT

JUNE - DECEMBER 2005

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Read the second report June 2005 to June 2006

Introduction

The First Minister of Scotland has set a challenge to attract Fresh Talent to Scotland. The Fresh Talent initiative is driven by the demographic projections for Scotland (the only country within the UK whose population is projected to decline and age) and concern that an ageing population may affect the economic future of Scotland, together with a recognition of the benefits of a more skilled and diverse workforce.

The aims of Fresh Talent are:

• To address the projected falling population and increasing age demographic in Scotland by encouraging and enabling people to relocate to Scotland, allowing ongoing stays by international students, and other measures aimed at workers and the Scottish diaspora
• To bolster the dynamism and cosmopolitanism of Scottish life and Scotland's economy
• To promote Scotland as a good place to visit, study, live, work, do business and invest

We need bright talented hard working people who can make a positive contribution to the Scottish economy. We also want to benefit from diversity - new ideas, new blood, new ways of thinking. Our target groups are:

· students

· those looking for employment

· entrepreneurs intending to start up businesses in Scotland

· businesses seeking to recruit migrants and

· Scots looking to return to Scotland to live and work

Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme

The Scottish Executive and Home Office have agreed a new scheme called the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme (FT:WiSS). The Scheme was launched on June 22, 2005, and enables international graduates from a Scottish Higher or Further Education Institution to stay and work in Scotland for two years after the end of their course without the need for a work permit.

Since the scheme was launched over 2,600 people from over 150 countries have successfully applied to live and work in Scotland.

Those eligible to apply for permission to stay are non-EEA students who have graduated with a Higher National Diploma from a Scottish Further Education College or an undergraduate degree, Masters degree or PhD from a Scottish Higher Education Institution.

Applicants must intend to work in Scotland during the time they are allowed to stay, and either leave the country at the end of the two year period or switch to one of the UK wide managed migration schemes. If they wish to transfer into work permit employment, then their work permit must be for employment in Scotland.

Applications are administered by the Home Office (for in-country applications) and by UK Visas (for overseas applications). The Home Office passes onto the Scottish Executive's Relocation Advisory Service (RAS) the contact details of everyone who is awarded leave to remain under the scheme. The information for each applicant received from the Home Office is:

Ø Name

Ø Postal address

Ø Nationality

RAS contacts these individuals to monitor what they are doing during the two years and whether they stay in Scotland beyond that period. Questionnaires are issued to all successful applicants at the start of their two year period on the scheme, with follow up questionnaires issued every six months. It is not compulsory that applicants reply to the questionnaires or answer all the questions.

Purpose of this Report

The information can be divided into thee themes:

• Individual Information
• Education
• Employment

While the broad findings are summarised below, it must be borne in mind that these are from a relatively small number of respondents and may not necessarily extrapolate to all FT:WiSS participants. The full responses are detailed in Annex A. Please note, to preserve anonymity, and in line with Data Protection requirements, numbers less than five have not been detailed (these are marked *).

Summary of Responses

Individual details

The majority of the 118 respondents are male (71 per cent) Most of the respondents are under the age of 30 (94), with almost a third under 25 (35).

In terms of nationality, most respondents are from Africa (40), South Asia (32) or South East Asia (29), with smaller numbers coming from North or South America or (non-EU) Europe.

The majority of respondents currently live in the 4 main Scottish cities, Aberdeen (31), Edinburgh (30), Glasgow (24) and Dundee (13). However, there was also a wide geographical spread throughout Scotland, albeit in smaller numbers.

Education

Respondents had graduated from a wide range of Universities and Colleges in a variety of subjects, with Business studies the most popular course (36), followed by Engineering and Technology (26). In terms of level of qualifications, just under two thirds of respondents (74) graduated with a postgraduate degree, 31 with an undergraduate degree, and 12 with an HND.

Employment

The majority of respondents (89) were employed, 52 in a job linked to their career choice. Equal numbers said their job either was or was not appropriate to their level of education.

Similarly, just over half the respondents (47) said that their work was in a sector which their qualifications had prepared them for. A number of respondents declined to answer this question.

Annex A

Individual Information

Table 1. Gender of respondents

Table 2. Age of respondents

Table 3. Ethnic group of respondents

Table 4. Nationality of respondents

Table 5. Place of residence

Table 6. Children and/or partner in Scotland

Table 7. Other family in Scotland

Table 8. Expected length of stay in Scotland

Education

Table 9. Level of highest educational qualification

Table 10. Institution studied at

Table 11. Main subject area of study

Employment

Table 12. Work experience by the end of studies

Table 13. Current employment status

Table 14. Place of employment1

1. Tables 14 to 24 are based on responses by the 93 persons out of 118 who were working.

Table 15. Employment Sector

Table 16. Type of main job

Table 17. Permanent/ temporary work

Table 18. Full-time/ part-time (less than 30 hrs/week) work

Table 19. Number of employees of employer

Table 20. More than one job

Table 21. Current job linked to career choice

Table 22. If job not linked to career choice, what would help obtain a job that was?

Table 23. Current job appropriate to level of educational qualification

Table 24. Work in a sector that qualifications prepared for