After facing unprecedented worker shortages, the Australian government has announced that it will increase its Permanent Migration Visas by 35,000 to 195,000 in the current financial year.
Earlier in 2017 to 2018, the permanent migration visas were increased. This brought the total number of permanent migration visas to more than 160,000.
With labour shortages still ongoing and expected to get worse in coming years, this is necessary to ensure that Australia can continue its economic growth without stalling due to an inability to recruit workers with appropriate skill sets.
This week, Australia announced a slight increase of Permanent resident Visa for Australia to the country over the next 12 months. The move was predicted as Australia continues to face an ever-growing talent crunch.
A report by Deloitte found that companies are already experiencing difficulties filling some jobs, which will only worsen with time. By 2033, 40% of Australian workers could be over 50 years old, and so there is a need for more young people to enter the workforce to fill those gaps.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian government temporarily restricted permanent migration visas for non-Australians. The original restriction barred Australians from bringing non-Australians into the country, which resulted in many skilled labourers being forced to leave Australia due to a lack of opportunity. This triggered an uproar among international and domestic workers who demanded their right to remain in Australia.
An April report from the Treasurer’s office said Australia’s unemployment rate is now at a near 50-year-low of 3.4 per cent, but soaring inflation means real wages are down.
In other words, Australians earn less than they need to make ends meet as the cost of living rises. The population also increased at a rate of more than 380,000 people yearly, which put pressure on the labour market and stretched public services such as infrastructure, health care and education.
With increasing pressure to tackle climate change, the ageing population and meeting future labour needs, the Australian government announced plans to increase Permanent Migration Visas by 20% to bring skilled workers into the country.
Following a recent federal election campaign, Australia’s newly elected centre-left Labor government convened the national capital’s two-day summit in Canberra on Thursday, inviting business groups and unions to help solve critical economic challenges.
It’s been a talent crunch for quite some time now. As the world becomes more digital, the knowledge and skills of employees become ever more critical.
At this point, Australia has come up with an ingenious solution to meet its labour needs: issuing more permanent migration visas than any other country.
The Australian government is committed to creating jobs by taking action on both increasing the skill levels of workers and attracting people from overseas who have those skills. With so many Australians underutilized because they lack needed qualifications or experience, Australia will focus on developing these potential workers rather than importing them from elsewhere.
Historically the visa process has taken months to years, but a blowout in visa processing times in Australia has left about a million prospective workers stuck in limbo, worsening the staff shortage crisis.
Fortunately, the government is taking measures to streamline the process and has cut down on waiting time for residency processing from 13-20 months to around one month, which is still improving.
Recently, they also announced plans to introduce some new visa categories more tailored towards professions in high demand. But these changes will take some time before they can be implemented, so the country is considering speeding up immigration approvals while also exploring ways to attract more people with specific skill sets and make them feel welcome.
The rapid economic growth over the past few years has made it difficult for Australian employers to find enough staff to fill positions. Many believe this leads to higher salaries and lower productivity. If you are with the thought of applying for this visa, it’s the right time to consult Registered Migration Agents in Australia.
Hon Andrew Giles, immigration minister for Australia, has announced that the country is increasing the number of permanent migration visas in response to a talent crunch. Mr Giles made this announcement last week.
“In order to ensure timely processing and high-quality decisions, we will increase our staff capacity of 500 people for the next nine months, he said. This will allow us to process more than 25,000 additional applications.”
It also means that it will take significantly less time for applicants to wait for their Permanent resident Visa for Australia application to be processed. If you are currently an applicant waiting on your visa application to be processed, you can now expect it to be completed within an average timeframe of six weeks from now on.
The government will spend A$36.1 million ($25 million) to fill up its staff capacity by 500 people for the next nine months. They have also increased fees to improve service standards at its visa processing centers worldwide.