There's every reason to remain upbeat about the future for skilled migrants in Australia.
With the Australian economy in good shape and business confidence growing in 2010, organisations suffering from skills shortages should still consider the opportunity of employing qualified workers from overseas.
These individuals will not only bring needed skills and experience to the job, but are also very positive contributors to the economy and the community. Skilled migrants who apply for permanent residency in Australia also bring their own assets to the country - on average this is in excess of $700,000 and often a young family.
The Federal Government is currently reducing the number of occupations in demand and is consulting with Skills Australia who will produce a proposed new Skilled Occupations List (SOL) of both the white collar and blue collar occupations. The Government is also revamping the points system to recalibrate perceived weighting problems, particularly in comparing professional and trades roles.
The key action for businesses who are recruiting from overseas is to identify the talent and sponsor (that is, hire) that individual ahead of their arrival. While this puts the onus on business to 'make it happen', we have found businesses that use Skype and other technologies to meet candidates are able to form a clear opinion of their fit for the role required.
For its part, the Government has made it clear that qualified skilled migrants who have work lined up with a business will receive the highest priority in bringing that worker to Australia as quickly as possible.
There's another important reason why Australian business has to stay on the front foot: skilled migrants need your leadership.
In having engaged with and surveyed many tens of thousands of skilled migrants considering a permanent move to Australia, our country is now a far more uncertain destination for overseas skilled migrants due to a number of converging factors. In fact, our data of indicates that overall in 2009, there was 30% less interest amongst skilled migrants in coming to Australia.
Unnecessarily complicated selection criteria, attacks on migrant students, the collapse of private educational colleges, the perception that Australia is a racist society are all contributing to Australia no longer becoming the first choice for skilled migrants.
While many of these factors are independent events, a cumulative effect in which skilled migrants are linking these factors together is starting to raise serious question marks about their future in Australia as opposed to other western countries, principally Canada, the UK, and the US.
The Skilled Occupation List (SOL), the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL), the State-based Occupation List, the Critical Skills List (CSL), and a separate queuing priority based on occupation, have made it difficult for skilled migrants to understand where they fit and what their chances of approval are.
The highly publicised attacks on migrant students undermine the very reason why Australia has traditionally been valued so highly by skilled migrants. LIVE IN australia.com has surveyed more than 150,000 prospective migrants across the last two years which consistently shows that the No.1 priority for 70% of skilled migrants in choosing a future country of residence is 'personal safety' and 'a better future for my children'.
That's not to say that Australia isn't a safe place. However, when safety concerns and hints of racism arise, this becomes a highly sensitive issue for a skilled migrant who's considering uprooting his or her family to create a new life in Australia. The perceived risk factors start to climb.
Most concerning for LIVE IN australia.com has been the fallout out from these events in which skilled migrants perceive that Australia is a racist society, a view very publicly supported by former Telstra CEO, Sol Trujillo throughout US media networks.
LIVE IN australia.com ran a recent survey that asked skilled migrants this very question, and we were concerned to see that 53% of respondents believed Australia is a racist culture.
I understand and support the idea of aligning our skilled migration program with the economy in order to maintain the inflow of quality migrants, and that's what the current adjustments are all about.
However, the consequence of what Lemony Snickett would refer to as 'a series of unfortunate events' means that more an ever Australian businesses need to proactively find that much needed talent. If the current perception of Australia as increasingly difficult to migrate to takes hold, our economy will miss out on talented individuals with assets, experience and ideas.
To be clear, the Federal Government is still encouraging Australian businesses to consider skilled migrants as a hiring option. There will be around 100,000 new permanent residency visas issued in the next 12 months, the majority of who will be skilled migrants.
At this point, there needs to be clear leadership and crystal clear communication from the Government to skilled migrants telling them exactly what is happening. Without this clear communication, the other issues around concerns for safety and the spectre of perceived racism will make their decision to eliminate Australia from their future plans more likely.
The leadership of Australian business owners and senior managers is a critical element to ensuring Australia remains one of the world's most dynamic and talent-rich societies.
About the author
Assyl Haidar is director of visa and migration advice business LIVE IN australia.com, which has assisted more than 100,000 skilled migrants since 2001. For more information visit: www.liveinaustralia.com