Comment: the mismatch between business and Government over the skills the country needs

Biology teachers are no longer in shortage in the UK; nor are mechanical and electrical engineers in the power industry, according to Government advisers. Funny that, because employers seem to say the exact opposite.

The shortage list is important because it is one of the only vehicles employers have for hiring non-EU migrant workers into Britain to plug skills gaps. Any company wanting to hire a skilled foreigner into a role using Tier 2 of the immigration system (the most popular by numbers) must first check to see their job title falls under the shortage list.

If it doesn't, it means the UK cannot justify giving a limited migrant worker job to someone deemed not to be filling a particular skills need. That seems fair enough in principle. Under the MAC proposals, there would be some 70,000 fewer non-EU migrants coming to the UK.

But there is a lot of debate among employers about what a "skills need" actually is. Of the 29 job titles which should be taken off the shortage occupation list, according to MAC, there are several roles which companies would argue are in short supply within the UK. These include: secondary school biology teachers, consultants in a range of medical disciplines, vets, mechanical, electrical and project civil engineers in the power industry and software engineers within the visual effects industry.

In a number of stories I have covered recently, fresh evidence and comment from a range of employers across industries seems to suggest our education system is not fit for employers' needs. Employers have complained at the quality of science teaching in our schools, arguing there aren't enough decent teachers able to inspire children to study it at advanced level. Others have warned young people are coming out of university with academic qualifications which look good on paper but bare no meaning to the real world of work.

These companies are forced to recruit from outside the EU as they are struggling to find the skills within it. The new shortage list will undoubtedly mean more employers find it harder to get hold of the skills they want.

On the plus side, visual effects and computer animation experts are among the 33 job titles that should be opened up to migrant workers looking to come to the UK to fill skills gaps, because the UK suffers from shortages in these areas, the Government's official advisers recommended.

But also within the new shortage list are some roles which the UK should already excel at – for example, mining and coal engineers. What the UK was once known for in the seventies has suddenly become a shortage occupation. This serves as a reminder to Government, employers and our education providers that if we lose sight of where the future jobs market is going we will run into trouble in several years to come.

Policy-makers need to work with the education system to make sure it adapts to the changing needs of industry.