In an effort to address massive workforce shortages, Australia is raising its cap on permanent migration for the first time in a decade.
It is projected to take up to 195,000 people this year—an increase of 35,000 people.
The impact of the pandemic and Australia’s tough border policies have exacerbated staffing shortages in many sectors.
The government is seeking workers from China, India and the UK – Australia’s top sources of migration – to fill the jobs, a report says.
There are more than 480,000 job vacancies across the country, but with unemployment at an almost 50-year low, employers are finding it increasingly difficult to fill those positions.
The hospitality, healthcare, agriculture and skilled trade industries have been hit particularly hard by the economic downturn.
The shortage of workers in major industries has caused chaos at airports and left fruit to rot on trees, according to a national jobs summit.
“Our focus is always Australian jobs first… but the impact of Covid has been so severe that even if we exhaust every other possibility, we will still be many thousands of workers short, at least in the short term,” Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said.
From 2010 to 2017, annual permanent migration was around 190,000 before it fell in 2017 amid political debate over immigration.
However, business and union leaders – as well as political opponents – have called for more migrants.
The increase includes 4,700 extra places for healthcare workers and 9,000 for people moving to regional areas.
The government has pledged A$36 million ($24.4 million; £21 million) to hire more staff, in an effort to help clear visa processing backlogs.
In spite of the pandemic, more than a million people have moved to Australia since 2016.
According to the latest census, more than half of the population was born overseas or has a parent who was.
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