Migration and Australia’s skill shortages

A report by the Australian Human Resource Institute (AHRI) found that seven out of 10 Australian employers surveyed are still experiencing a skills shortage, and more than 85% believe skilled migration in necessary to the success of their organisations.

In the report’s foreword, National ARHI President, Peter Wilson, writes:

“Approximately 80% of the 1044 respondents to this study are working at the front line of the scheme – as employer sponsors of skilled migrants or as employees working alongside skilled migrants.

“Of those two sample groups, a total of around four out of five report positively on the benefits of the scheme and would take the same path again to source talent from offshore, given the opportunity…

“Even though the economy has taken a turn for the worse in recent times, there are still reports of skill shortages that will need to be filled from offshore in order to ensure our strong and well performing industries remain so.”

Of the respondents to the survey, 35.48% work in organisations with more than 1000 employees, while the second largest group came from organisations with between 100-499 employees. The majority, 54.27%, were from the private sector.

What value do skilled migrants provide?

According the the AHRI report, more than nine out of 10 respondents (96.31%) whose organisations employed 457 visa holders believe their organisation benefited from the visa scheme.

When presented with the question of whether they would use 457 visa holders to meet skilled labour needs again, a resounding 94.5% said “yes”.

“We need experienced personnel to hep train existing Australians. To do this we need 457 visa workers,” stated one respondent.

“We get some great UK candidates, and with them we can learn to better deliver to our clients, to develop our employees, and ultimately to benefit the economy. Aussies go overseas too. It’s good to have an open flow of talent both ways,” commented another.

Further positive responses related to “the capacity of the workers with respect to the relevance of their work experience, their need for little or no training, their readiness to pass on their skills, and their strong work ethic”, as well as the competitive edge often brought about by diversifying an organisations skill pool.

The future of skilled migrants

While the vast majority of respondents (95.03%) confirmed that prior to hiring a skilled migrant, thy first attempted to employ skills from within Australia, there was strong evidence that the skills required are simply not available by hiring from within Australia alone.

Respondents were asked to consider what should happen with the 457 visa scheme in response to the economic slowdown, and the majority, 53.42%, stated that it should continue as usual. A small percentage (6.94%) actually believed the scheme should be expanded.