Tier 1 or work permit?

What are the current processing times for work permit (including entry clearance) vs Tier 1?
My situation - I got a job from the UK University and my employer consulted with their foreign office (or whatever it's called) and suggested that I do Tier 1 instead of work permit since it's easier and faster (well, I'm sure it's easier for them). Now that I'm learning more about this process, I'm not sure that's Tier 1 is even faster (at first I thought Tier 1 would take about a month so I gave the employer this number for start of my contract). What are the current processing times for work permit from beginning to end? Should I contact the employer and tell them that now it can take up to 12 weeks for Tier 1 processing and they should look into doing work permit for me?

papagus-recentely i got my WP and EC done.

It tooks 7 weeks for WP to be approved and then 1 week for EC.(due to my employer it was fast)

So i guess u can consider 8 weeks for WP and 20 days for EC in US....

this is just my calculation and there are other vetrans who can guide you..hope this helps.

Thanks! WP doesn't look much faster than Tier 1, so I guess I'll stick with Tier 1 then.

I would agree with those timelines...but WP's sometimes take even longer.  I'd go with Tier 1 if you are sure you qualify.

Vicky