Countries officially short of workers: the jobs they recruit abroad in 2026

"There is a shortage of workers" is one of the most repeated lines about moving abroad, and one of the least precise. Shortages are specific: a country can be desperate for nurses and electricians while developers compete for every opening.

Several countries measure this officially and publish the results as lists that feed straight into their immigration rules. Being on one of those lists can mean a lower salary threshold, a faster route or priority in selection. This article looks at the current lists of five countries and groups the occupations by area.

The five lists

Healthcare

Healthcare appears in four of the five lists. The exception is the United Kingdom's Temporary Shortage List, which covers medium skilled jobs; health and care roles in the UK go through other rules not covered here.

• Germany: nursing and medical professions are among the occupations with the most severe shortages in the 2025 analysis.
• Canada: the healthcare and social services category for 2026 lists 37 occupations, from registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and nurse aides to family physicians, pharmacists, physiotherapists, psychologists, paramedics and social workers.
• Australia: the Core Skills list includes general practitioners and 14 registered nurse specialisations.
• Ireland: the government describes its list as covering roles in medicine, among other areas.

Engineering and IT

This is where the lists disagree most.

• Canada: the 2026 STEM category has 11 occupations. It includes civil, mechanical, electrical, industrial and geological engineers and several engineering technicians. The only IT role is cybersecurity specialists. Software developers, programmers and data scientists are not on it.
• Germany: the 2025 analysis found no shortage in software development any more, a change from the previous year. Surveying technicians were added.
• Australia: the Core Skills list includes a wide range of IT roles, among them software engineer, developer programmer, web developer, DevOps engineer, database and systems administrators and several cybersecurity occupations, as well as civil engineers.
• United Kingdom: the Temporary Shortage List covers engineering technicians, electrical and electronics technicians, IT operations and user support technicians, database administrators and data analysts. The list exists for jobs below graduate level: roles at graduate level can be sponsored without being on it.
• Ireland: ICT is one of the areas named for its critical skills list.

In short, if you work in software, Australia and Ireland are the clearest official signals among these five. In Germany and Canada the route is still open, but you will not get the advantage of being on a shortage list.

Skilled trades

• Germany: construction and craft occupations are among the main shortage areas.
• Canada: the 2026 trades category lists 25 occupations, including electricians, plumbers, carpenters, welders, heating and air conditioning mechanics, heavy duty equipment mechanics, bricklayers, roofers and construction managers.
• Australia: the Core Skills list includes electricians, plumbers, carpenters and chefs.
• United Kingdom: the Temporary Shortage List includes welders, pipe fitters, electricians, plumbers and heating installers, vehicle technicians, steel erectors, painters and decorators and construction supervisors, each with its own minimum salary.

Education, childcare and social care

• Germany: educators (Erzieherinnen and Erzieher) are among the occupations in high demand, and social work was added in 2025.
• Canada: the education category lists five occupations, including elementary and secondary school teachers and early childhood educators.
• Australia: secondary school teachers are on the Core Skills list.

Transport and hospitality

• Germany: professional drivers and cooks are both named among the occupations in high demand.
• Canada: the transport category lists air pilots, aircraft mechanics, avionics technicians and automotive, truck and bus mechanics.

Lists change, and some are temporary

These lists are reviewed regularly, and a place on them is not permanent.

The United Kingdom's current list is an interim one. In July 2026 the Migration Advisory Committee, which advises the government, recommended that 28 occupations should have access to a future list for 18 months, after assessing 46 occupations that submitted plans to train local workers. That is a recommendation. The government decides what the next list looks like.

Germany's number of shortage occupations has fallen for two years in a row, from 183 in the 2023 analysis to 163 and then 157. The Federal Employment Agency also states that there is currently no evidence of a general labour shortage: in many occupations the supply of workers clearly exceeds demand.

How to use these lists

1. Find your occupation's official code. Lists are built on national occupation codes, and a job title that sounds the same can sit in a different code.
2. Check what the list actually gives you. In some countries a listing lowers the salary threshold, in others it gives priority, and in Germany it describes the labour market rather than granting a visa by itself.
3. Check recognition. For nurses, doctors, teachers and many trades, your qualification must be recognised in the new country before you can work. That process often takes longer than the visa.

Next steps

Country profiles, with salaries and cost of living for each: Germany, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom and Ireland.

A shortage list gets your occupation noticed. Your CV and LinkedIn profile still have to get you shortlisted, and recruiters in each country read them differently. The LinkedIn and CV service adapts both for the market you are targeting.