Having a visa does not guarantee work in Australia.
Statistics released today would seem to pour scorn on the notion that migrants who emigrate to Australia looking for work are taking the jobs of Australian nationals.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that of the 10.7 million workers in Australia, just 2.8 million are migrants from overseas. And of those workers a higher proportion of migrants were employed as Professionals , 26%, compared to 20% of Australian nationals. This would seem to suggest that the government’s skilled migration program is working.
Of the unemployed, the same proportion of migrants as Australian nationals had previously worked and 67% had been in some form of work within the last two years.
The data is correct up until November 2008. Since that time the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship have cut down on general skilled migrants in favour of more highly skilled workers, so the figures for 2009/2010 will be notably different.
Figures for job starters also favour Australian born nationals, with them making up three-quarters of all new starters into the job market. For Australian immigrants and migrant workers the most common job starter occupation was as a labourer.
Many now fear that a cutback on migrant workers could see a shortage of general labourers as quite often the migrants take on jobs, especially in agriculture, that local Australians are reluctant to do.
All the figures released by the ABS are available to view online and would appear to show that Australian born nationals do not suffer job losses because of migrants to Australia. The workplace in general still favours local workers and with measures introduced by the DIAC last September to safeguard local jobs, there appears to be even less for Australia’s workforce to worry about.
However is this your experience? We’ve heard lots of differing arguments on Embrace Australia from both local Australians and migrant workers. If you’ve been affected by this issue, either as a local worker or a migrant worker then please do get in touch, we’d love to hear from you. Fill out the comments box below or join our lively online forum for support, chat and debate.
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