The luck of the Irish

Since the fall of the Celtic Tiger, Australia has had a large influx of Irish workers in the industry, particularly in the construction, property and engineering sectors.

These foreign workers have proven to be quite popular in the local market. Yes, they may be coming to Australia out of employment necessity but due to their skills and experience along with our current needs, Australian employers are eagerly snapping them up.

The construction industry in Ireland is stuck in a depression that sees only 20% output a year so it’s understandable that Irish workers are seeking work elsewhere.

On the cusp of a 25 year expansion, it’s estimated that Western Australia will need 150,000 extra workers by 2017. This need will be readily met by overseas skilled workers because their skills set is of such a high standard.

Given the fact that Australia has such a small population compared to its land mass, and the rapid growth of its cities and booming mining industry, there is a need to fill positions with people who have proven experience (which will inevitably come from overseas). This is a quicker way to fill the positions rather than waiting for graduates to get 5 years of experience under their belts before they can take the next step in their chosen profession.

This isn’t to say that Australian workers are being dealt the short end of the stick but, in the current situation, overseas workers have the qualifications and skills to fill demand automatically. Australia is breeding a generation of workers to match their international counterparts but the majority are either at university or obtaining experience so perhaps local employment will escalate in the next decade but for now, there is an automatic solution in overseas workers. Of course, on some occasions this will mean that Australian workers may lose out on jobs, but this again will only seek to drive up the level of expertise and the quality of candidates that Australia will produce in response to this influx of overseas workers.

However, it isn’t all rainbows and roses for our international friends. Visa issues and cultural transitions add a layer of difficulty but the largest added stress is the requirement (for some professions) that workers have a certain amount of local experience.

For example, the UK/Irish’s planning system differs greatly from the Australian system. For those in the planning and architect industry, there is a need to familiarize themselves with our system by gaining local experience whether through entry level jobs or work experience/intern initiatives.

Despite these hurdles, Irish workers are coming in steadily. With their reputation of being good workers and the ease with which they enter the Australian market and culture, the Irish are here to stay. Considering Irish productivity rates are among the highest in the OECD and in Europe for many years, fingers crossed the luck of the Irish continues to rub off on Australia.

RESEARCHED AND EDITED BY DANIELLA SERRET AND RAY AULD.

SOURCES:

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Australia-wants-Irelands-unemployed-125684948.html

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/07/06/skills-shortage-has-australia-tapping-u-k-irish-workers/

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Thousands-of-Irish-workers-wanted-in-Australia-says-Aussie-minister-130933433.html

"Experience" and "skills" are the new magic words

The Australian Mining website recently published an article on mining employment opportunities that received a lot of controversial feedback. The article discussed the ‘desperate’ need for workers in Western Australia Goldfields region, stating that job vacancies were increasing steadily. However, the article’s plea for workers was contradicted by the comments below the article that questioned the ‘desperation’ of the situation in the fact that it seemed more difficult than ever to obtain a job in the mining sector.

The claims ranged from being overly-skilled to being overlooked in favour of international workers, with experience being the key component. In fact, being qualified but lacking in experience was the dominant complaint.

Because of this seemingly never-ending contradiction of needing experience to get a job but needing a job to get experience, one irate blogger wrote “What these employers must know is that there is no college or uni where experience is taught as a subject. They should just recruit qualified people and give them the experience.”

But what of the rare breed of workers who have the qualifications and the experience? Yes, they are few and far between but their edge in the employment market means that they are being actively pursued, even to the point of employing international workers over local ones. BHP Billiton's chief executive, Marius Kloppers, stated that there was a "massive talent gap" in the mining sector. This extreme skills shortage has resulted in mining groups satisfying their need for workers by employing fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers.

The popularity of the use of FIFO workers has come under fire by the Australian Workers Union, who criticize it as a short-term solution. There is also a lot of talk about how employing FIFO workers are damaging to rural communities but on the other hand, why should qualified overseas or interstate workers be penalised in this process?

Fortescue Metal’s group manager Deidre Willmott justified the use of FIFO workers by stating that it was nearly three times cheaper to employ a FIFO miner compared with a permanent resident because of the housing costs and allowances.

Ron Mosby (Goldfields-Esperance Workforce Development Alliance president) indicated that the 61 projects currently underway, combined with a further 28 projects starting this year, meant there would be about 10,000 job vacancies in 2012.

However, officials at Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal stated that even entry level jobs were attracting more than 400 applicants so competition is fierce.

Whilst it’s understandable that local candidates want to get a look in, it’s basic business acumen to hire the candidates that fit your criteria to the letter. This is supply and demand at its best.

Perhaps the solution lies in each party re-evaluating their standards. Companies need to invest more in training programs and candidates should seek work experience and internships to add to their academic credentials.

RESEARCHED AND EDITED BY: DANIELLA SERRET

SOURCES:

http://www.blogger.com/goog_2109964119

http://www.blogger.com/goog_2109964119

http://www.blogger.com/goog_2109964119

http://www.blogger.com/goog_2109964119

http://theaustralian.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx