The Australian government changed its policy to attract American workers, namely those involved in the resource industry.

Australian Government Changed Its Policy to Attract American Workers – Keeping Up with the Resource Boom

According to Reuters, the Australian government changed its policy to attract American workers as the Australian economy struggles to keep up with the high demand of the resource boom fueled by China. Before its policy change, Australia required all workers moving to Australia to be assessed upon arrival prior to employment, which could end up taking months, with the potential for rejection if their skills did not meet the standards required. Under the new policy, the evaluation can be done in America and workers can start employment immediately, once in Australia.

Australian Government Changed Its Policy to Attract American Workers – Desperate for Skilled Workers

The Australian government changed its policy to attract American workers in attempt to gain more professionals such as electricians, plumbers, and construction workers. It is estimated that over the next five years, Australia will need over 1 million workers, with 200,000 of those workers being in construction. Moreover, Australia will also be in high demand for social and health care workers, and will need an estimated 320,000 qualified candidates. Australia is one of the few countries that avoided recession during the global financial crisis which left powerful countries like the United States with high unemployment. Currently, Australia has an unemployment rate of 5.2 percent, compared to the U.S. unemployment rate of 8.3 percent.

Australian Government Changed Its Policy to Attract American Workers – Immigration Seminars and Expos

In hopes to attract skilled workers, Australia has been running immigration seminars in both Europe and India, and will now hold its first skill’s expo in Houston, Texas during May 19th and 20th. Although Australia is looking to different countries in hopes of attracting workers, Australia maintains that its first priority is to keep Australians employed. Australia’s Skills Minister Chris Evans stated that,

“While the government’s first priority is to train Australians for jobs in the resources and construction sectors, projections show that we will need workers from overseas for a peak in activity in the next three to five years.”

Australian Government Changed Its Policy to Attract American Workers – “Premature” Policy Change

Even though the Australian government changed its policy to attract American workers, there are those that are concerned that the policy change is premature. The Australian Council of Trade Unions, otherwise known as ACTU, claims that plans by the mining and construction industries to look overseas for hiring are “premature.”  ACTU president Ged Kearney went on to state that,

“While resources states such as Western Australia have very low unemployment, workers across the rest of the country are facing increasing rates of insecure work.”

As the Australian government changed its policy to attract American workers to keep up with the resource boom, it is unclear whether this new policy will have an impact on Australian citizens who are currently unemployed. Over the next three to five years, Australia will try to keep up with the high demand of resource oriented occupations, with high hopes to become an international competitor.

Feature photo provided by Queanbeyanage.com

Australian Government Changed Its Policy to Attract American Workers.