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Eric S'pore
Aug 17, 2005
Wanted: 20,000 skilled workers for Australia
Expos worldwide to match Australian firms with migrants offering right skills
SYDNEY - AUSTRALIA is embarking on its biggest recruitment drive for skilled migrants in more than 40 years, with road shows extolling the country planned for around the world, including several major Asian cities such as Chennai, Seoul, Manila and Bangkok.
The Howard government is seeking 20,000 workers to rescue key industries from labour shortages, officials said yesterday.
The government will target workers with skills in areas including engineering, trades, the health sector and accounting, immigration department spokesman Abdul Rizvi told national radio.
The department is organising a series of expos advertising Australia's culture and lifestyle in London, Berlin, Amsterdam and Chennai, but ‘we are looking for skills from anywhere’, Mr Rizvi said.
Next year the recruitment roadshow could move on to Bangkok, Seoul, Los Angeles and Manila, The Australian reported.
Australia, which has notoriously tough immigration policies, is suffering from a chronic labour shortage which is threatening economic growth in this country of just over 20 million people.
GLOBAL HUNT: Workers with qualifications in areas such as engineering, the trades, health care and accounting are particularly in demand in Australia, and the Howard government is taking its recruitment drive to cities in Europe, America and Asia to find them. – AFP, AP
The government plans to advertise in overseas newspapers from September, inviting prospective skilled migrants to meet employers and state and federal government representatives. The meetings will be held at the series of expos as part of a A$3 million (S$3.8 million) skills roadshow where officials will present options for migration under recently relaxed regulations.
'If you think about what we did in the 1950s and the impact that had on Australia, well we're doing it again,' the spokesman said.
In the 1950s, Australia mounted a major campaign to attract immigrants from Britain and some one million arrived in Australia under assisted migration schemes.
This time, however, the government is designing the campaign to meet specific labour shortages.
'This time we are saying: ‘You convince these employers that they want to employ you’,' Mr Rizvi said.
'Australian employers being asked to help in the global marketplace - the last thing we want is some country getting the jump on us.'
The governments of Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory have expressed the most interest in participating.
The campaign follows an announcement by the government earlier this year that it would allow 20,000 more skilled migrants to enter the country this year and the next. The move raises the number of people eligible under that category to 97,500.
It said at the time that doctors, hairdressers, mechanics, boilermakers, pharmacists and accountants were particularly in demand.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry will seize the opportunity.
'This is a good move because it's finally coordinating this sort of activity across a range of industry bodies and (state and federal) governments too,' the chamber's director of education and training, Mr Steve Balzary, said.
Meanwhile, Labour leader Kim Beazley has urged action to encourage the 900,000 Australians working overseas to return home or forge closer investment and trade links, The Australian said.
Mr Beazley also said that a greater focus on innovation, research and development was required if Australia was to compete against low-wage economies in the region. – AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
