AUSTRALIA’S skills crisis has reached alarming new levels with fast-food giants McDonald’s and KFC forced to use the controversial 457 skilled visa program to recruit staff.
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The numbers of people coming into Australia under the government’s 457 work visa program has jumped more than 30 per cent in the last two months. The Federal Government says 457 grants expanded following a commitment by the Minister for Immigration to clear a backlog of applications before June 30. But independent immigration analyst, Bob Kinnaird, doubts rural and regional areas are benefiting from the influx..
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AUSTRALIA’S economy cannot continue to grow without a lot more skilled migrant workers, Immigration Minister Chris Evans says.
Senator Evans warned today of an ageing population and a range of industries that could not find enough skilled workers to enable their businesses to grow.
“So there is a huge demand. We will meet it by upskilling our own people, but we have got to make sure we have got strong skilled migration as well if we are going to grow,” the senator told Sky news.
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The Australian workforce needs another 200,000 full-time employees so skills shortages do not put firms at risk of losing their competitive edge, a report says.
More than two-thirds of firms have suffered over the past year because of the skills shortage, the survey of 492 chief executives by the Australian Industry Group and Deloitte found.
Six out of 10 of these firms in the services, construction and manufacturing sectors blamed skills shortages for restricting innovation.
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Queensland will be 14,000 nurses short in seven years with Australian nurses being lured overseas by higher wages.
Graduate nurses working in the United States can earn from $A50,000 and in Canada from $A51,790.
The equivalent Queensland Health rate is $46,628. These rates do not include overtime or regional allowances available to Queensland-employed nurses.
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IMMIGRATION laws should be relaxed to allow foreign semi-skilled workers to fill shortages, says Wal King, chief executive of construction giant Leighton Holdings.
The controversial scheme, known as 457 visas, for temporarily admitting skilled workers provided skilled workers, he said, but did not tackle the national shortage of semi-skilled workers such as truck drivers.
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