AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS

Immigration gives hope for Australia's economic future

Wednesday, 6 February 2008

Australia is in dire need of increased immigration, because when millions of baby boomers retire, many job vacancies will be created, according to a latest report.

The report by Professor Peter McDonald and Professor Glenn Withers from the Australian National University's Academy of Social Sciences has established that Australia needs skilled workers if it wants to maintain its adequate workforce and avoid future economic constraints.

Even though Australia has always relied on immigration to fill jobs and keep its economy growing, there are now signs that immigration needs a boost so that the already existing problem of the country's skills shortage issue doesn't get any worse.

According to Manpower recruitment company spokesman Steve Hinch, the skills shortage is already upon us, with 260,000 jobs lying vacant across Australia at the moment.

Titled "Population and Australia's Future Labour Force", the report says that Australia needs to boost immigration by at least 30% within the next 20 years so that it can meet its growing workforce demand.

Demand for service workers in labour-intensive industries will increase as living standards rise in line with higher productivity, and Chinese growth is increasing the massive demand for resources, especially in the mining, transportation and communication industries.

New infrastructure is receiving major investments, but this also means that the demand for construction and engineering workers is rapidly increasing.

"Supply constraints are the major problem that the Australian economy faces at present," the report states. "Labour shortages and infrastructure bottlenecks in particular have emerged."

"There will be more to cater for a larger number of really, relatively well-cashed up retirees that are looking to enjoy their life," Professor McDonald said.

"There will be a lot more support jobs... a lot of the older, ageing population that are currently in their 60s, will be in their late 70s, and 80s at that period.

He stressed there will be more need for medium to low-skilled home care assistants and even just in-house care for ironing and other household chores as the population ages.

"There will be certainly a massive need for re-skilling and introduction of more nurses, both at the home care level and in the hospice-type level."

He also went on to explain that younger boomers are still going to spend all their money for another 20 years after that and have fun, which means that there'll be an increase in the service industry, which includes cafes and hairdressers – all which require people.

The report's logical conclusion is that Australia's future requirements for labour will drive increases in demand for sustained and growing immigration.

It revealed that Australia's labour force grew by an average of 1.9% a year between 1980 and 2005, yet current growth was 1.2% a year, and that this will fall to 0.7% by 2021 and 0.5% by 2051 if current immigration levels and demographic trends continued.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans said that the new Rudd government would like to move towards more long-term planning of immigration intakes.

He said the government recognises that Australia needs a skilled migration program to meet the current and future demands of a booming economy and confirmed they are looking at ways to address the skills shortage through a combination of immigration, education and training initiatives.

"In meeting those future needs, the system must protect training and employment opportunities for Australian workers and preserve minimum wages and conditions to ensure foreign workers are not exploited," the Immigration Minister stated.

Senator Evans's department will consult with Prof McDonald about further research to inform Australia's future immigration decisions.

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