One of the biggest reasons why a lot of Australian
skilled visa holders are eager to get into the country is that
there are a lot of opportunities available for them here. In fact,
according to some businesses in the country, they are actually greatly
lacking workers. That's why there is a great demand for more foreign
workers to move into the Land Down Under.
However, there seems to
be something more with regards to the current worker shortage in
Australia. As it turns out, some groups are saying that the skills
shortage might not be the main problem at all. They argued that there
are still other issues that are closely tied up with the matter of
worker shortage that are also needed to be dealt with.
As a
flashback, the issue of a looming worker shortage became prominent since
the middle half of last year. This one is amidst the introduction of
new immigration regulations by the Department of Immigration and
Citizenship. One of these new rules was the revision of the skilled
migration programs, which included the scrapping of several positions in
favor of adding more high level jobs. Then there are also the new
requirements made for getting a visa.
According to some concerned
sectors, the new regulations are likely to trigger a worker shortage,
since it will be harder to secure a working visa. They also said that
that these new moves are likely to scare of potential recruits from
coming to Australia. Indeed, the number of working visa applicants did
drop after the implementation of these rules.
But according to
other groups, there is still yet another side to this matter. They said
that the current worker shortage that the country is experiencing may
not be due to the lack of workers, but to the lack of understanding of
where to place them. Indeed, they go on further and say that there might
actually be no worker shortage after all.
They further argue
that what is needed in the country is not more workers, but proper
management in order to distribute the current worker population to the
industries that will need them the most. They also added that the
current labor population might be enough to sustain the country.
Interestingly,
this is actually the direction being headed by the government under the
current Prime Minister Julia Gillard. In July, Gillard introduced her
so called sustainable population policy. In this one, Gillard intends to
better regulate the flow of people into the country in order to suit
its needs..
Though the government is very optimistic about the
plan, it is yet to be seen whether or not it delivers on its promise.
And with that, observers are closely watching if this one could indeed
solve the current worker shortage.