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Skilled Brits queueing up for Australian visas.
Historically, it’s a simple fact that millions of Brits have moved to Australia over the past 200 years or so. And why not? It was the British Crown that established the first European settlement in what eventually became Australia, by dumping several shiploads of convicts and their guards near Sydney Harbour in 1788. From that inauspicious beginning, a nation grew which is today one of the healthiest economies in the OECD. Because it’s a small country (in population) and because it’s far distant from Europe, Australia doesn’t attract much attention in the usual run of things.
However, this hasn’t stopped generations of more than usually aware immigrants moving there over the decades … millions since World war 2. Not all were Brits and Irish, to be sure: Australia now welcomes skilled immigrants from India, China, the Philippines, the USA, anywhere really. Australia has a desperate need for these skilled people because it is doing very well in a world that is largely stumbling through an economic minefield. Australia has managed to avoid recession essentially for two reasons: it has a seemingly endless supply of natural resources including iron ore, bauxite, gold, rare earths, uranium, oil and huge reserves of natural gas. Secondly, in China, it has a customer with a voracious appetite for those resources. With a kind of economic umbilical cord linking it to a huge and growing economy, Australia’s main challenge is finding enough people to undertake the skilled work the booming economy must have, in all areas from skilled manual trades to IT professionals and Health industry staff of all descriptions.
So why are so many Brits packing for Australia now? Sadly, in Britain, things aren’t going so well. Unemployment has soared to a 14-year high of 2.4 million and is expected to peak at about three million in 2010. That’s a lot of unemployment benefits, and they don’t cover even the mortgage payments. Trouble looms and recovery doesn’t look likely anytime soon. Consequently, Brits are packing up their skills, their tools and very often their families and shuffling off to the Land Down under, as those many millions have done before them.
Hays, the international recruitment consultancy, has reported a 20 per cent increase in the number of Brits seeking jobs in Australia in the past year.
While economic uncertainty at the beginning of the Global Financial Crisis downturn resulted in many households putting their emigration plans on hold, the Hays figures suggest that many have resumed their hunt for a better lifestyle. It seems likely that the pace will pick up quickly, as it takes time to apply for an Aussie skilled visa and have it approved, so the sooner one sets the wheels in motion, the quicker one can complete the process and start a new life.
Hays attributes the rise in moves to Australia to better economic conditions there, supported by warmer weather, the fact that the Aussies speak English and live a very enviable lifestyle.
Alistair Cox, Hays’ chief executive, said: “There has been a downturn over there, too, but Australia is in better shape. It entered into recession later but has come out earlier. The job market is tough, but there are still more opportunities than there are here.”
Some Australian companies, such as Leighton Contractors, Australia’s largest project development and construction company, are actively recruiting skilled workers from Britain for work on infrastructure projects.
The renewed appeal of a life overseas comes as one in six households in the UK are officially “workless”. The number of households where no one of working age is in employment has surged by 239,000 over the past year to 3.3 million, the highest level since records began in 1997, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). These are very distressing figures that won’t be reversed easily or soon.
Sydney is Australia’s most expensive city when it comes to cost of living but it’s cheaper than London, according to the latest study by UBS, the Swiss investment bank, based on global prices and earnings. London ranked the 21st most expensive, while Sydney was 38th. Other Australian cities are even less expensive. Wage levels are marginally higher in Sydney. That is, ‘Sydneysiders’ earn 70 per cent of the typical New York wage, the benchmark for the UBS study. Londoners, despite a higher cost of living, earn just 69 per cent.
While Australia is the favoured destination for fleeing Brits, according to a recent study, others go to the United States, New Zealand and Canada. The majority of migrants to Australia apply for and obtain a skilled migrant visa through the Australian General Skilled Migration programme. Increasing numbers are going under the special purpose 457 visa, which allows Australian employers to sponsor immigrants to work for them for a specified time.
The British Conservative Parliamentary Opposition says the UK Government has paid out more than £340 billion in benefits since it came to power in 1997, spending more than £106 billion in housing benefit and £92 billion in incapacity benefits. The bill for jobseeker’s allowance is estimated to be £36 billion.Thus, it seems clear that Brits going to Australia to regenerate their careers are delivering financial benefit to both countries, as well as to themselves.
So what sort of jobs are on offer Downunder? They’re crying out for almost any qualified and experienced trades person or professional, including bricklayers, plumbers, engineers, health workers, administrators, oil & gas workers and airline pilots among many more. Right now there are thousands of positions vacant in Australia, awaiting skilled workers and professionals from the UK, Ireland and elsewhere.
In 2009 alone, over 200,000 new jobs have been created in Australia as the country evades recession and its economy continues to expand. Massive new trade and export deals plus multi-billion dollar national infrastructure projects are in train, to create more than a million new jobs over the next five years
Australia is a rapidly growing country and its ‘boom city’ is Melbourne, where demand for workers is rising every month. Thousands of jobs are being created in and around the city as developers struggle to meet the demands of a rapidly increasing population. Government reports indicate Melbourne is set for a property boom with the number of new homes forecast to rise by 40% in the next five years.
Official figures show the number of new homes will increase by 64,00 between now and 2014. Major new construction works are also planned in the city’s office, retail and hotel sectors. The expanding economy is fuelling great demand for office and factory space in addition to new homes for a rising population. It all adds up to an ever-expanding need for skilled workers. In fact, workers are urgently needed across the spectrum. For example, the most in-demand workers in Australia at this time are bricklayers, who can earn an average $AU3,660.57 (£2,000) per week.
Tradespeople and professionals from construction to admin and I.T are all in demand and the trend will continue for many years, creating and securing tens of thousands of new jobs. For UK workers and their families it’s an opportunity to gain well-paid jobs and revel in a new, laid-back lifestyle.
Australia also offers a ‘business visa’ to encourage business people and entrepreneurs looking for greener pastures, to consider a new life Downunder. With everything forging ahead so strongly and at such a fast rate, there are many opportunities to build a business career, a business, large or small and a very superior lifestyle.
If you are a skilled trades person or professional, it’s a good idea to start exploring the Australian opportunities for yourself expeditiously, preferably with help from an experienced immigration advisor. One way of doing this is to contact an established, reputable and successful Australian immigration advisory service with a proven track record with successful applicants from Ireland, the UK, India, the US and many other countries.
And don’t forget to pack your swimming costume and sunscreen!
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