A walk through some of the small businesses in the western suburbs of Sydney paints a dire image of what’s in store for business across Australia; foreclosure signs and rampant staff advertisements are just the tips of the iceberg. 

We were among the lucky countries that continued to grow during the pandemic, despite various bottlenecks existing within the supply chain and stagnant global growth. The support offered by the government and the resilient nature of Australians helped us avoid inflation and recession during the pandemic, but that may now be on the wane given rising interest rates, rising inflation, withdrawal of government support and a new wave of Covid set to peak in August.  Given we are one of the few countries in the world still requiring a 7 day ‘isolation’ period, there is no doubt this too has a knock on effect.

The current employment rate has remained flat at 3.9 %, indicating that individuals on shore might not be actively looking for a job. Adversely the closure of our borders during the pandemic and the soft opening with its well-publicised visa processing delays, has driven away most of our offshore workers to look for opportunities elsewhere. 

The result: Australia is currently facing its worst skills shortage in decades, and individuals working fewer hours due to covid related illnesses and a 7 day isolation period that many employers are calling for the end of.  

An insight into our job portal alone would indicate that a few industries have been hit worse than others, for example shortages in skilled Child Care educators, ages care services, nursing and hospitality. 

 

https://www.mmmigration.com.au/mmmigration-jobs/ 

 

With most Unions lobbying toward training Australian citizens onshore in the areas of existing shortages, a key point to note would be that it would take three to four years to adequately train an individual to be proficient in their line of work. With a high number of jobs that mature workers currently occupy, we may not have that time to fill the gap as they retire.   

What can we do to fix this?  

We need to remain highly competitive if we are to fill the gaps caused by the shortages, especially compared to countries like Canada, the U.K, and The United States, which have revised their immigration policies to attract more workers.  

We shouldn’t just focus on the industries that need immediate assistance right away, but rather plan ahead and invite individuals from diverse technical and non-technical backgrounds to reduce the probability of future shortages.  

We should also remind ourselves that skilled migration alone is a temporary skill; we need to take a page from our competitors’ playbook and offer more to our skilled migrant, perhaps easier and clearer pathways to permanently migrate to our country especially if we want to remain an active global player.  

Our company aims to help immigrants achieve their dream of not only migrating to Australia but also help them gain fulling employment and permanent residency.  

 For more information visit our website: https://www.mmmigration.com.au 

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