Australia’s migration program is failing to match recently arrived immigrants with suitable jobs, a new report claims.
The new report, titled ‘Australia’s Skilled Migration Program: Scarce Skills Not Required’ finds that most skilled migrants work in industries where jobs are already in oversupply, while most are also employed at levels well below their claimed skills set.
The report’s author, Dr Bob Birrell of the Australian Population Research Institute, found that the country’s current Skill Stream immigration program is flawed.
Dr Birrell looked at the employment situations of immigrants who arrived in Australia between 2011 and 2016. His research found that 256,504 overseas born persons aged between 25-34 who held degree or above level qualifications arrived in Australia over these years. The vast majority, 84 per cent, came from Non-English-Speaking-Countries (NESC).
Only 24 per cent of the NESC group were employed as professionals as of 2016, compared with 50 per cent of people from Main-English-Speaking-Countries (MESC) and 58 per cent of the same aged Australian-born graduates.
The study states the Skilled Occupations List includes “numerous professions that the government’s own Department of Employment has judged to be oversupplied, including accounting and engineering.
“As a consequence, most recently arrived skilled migrants cannot find professional jobs,” the study revealed.
The report did say, though, that job applicants with good English skills and better “cultural awareness” had an advantage when looking for suitable jobs.
Article published 13th March 2018