The Market and Employment Opportunities in Australia

Australia, as a country, is well-known for lucrative employment opportunities because of its booming resource sectors, effective legislation and high salaries. This combination attracts highly skilled labor from all around the globe and the unemployment rate is quite low (6.2%). However, landing one’s dream job in Australia can be very competitive as local masses are quite intelligent and therefore to break into the market as a foreigner, one must have outstanding skills! The highest rate of job growth in Australia has been recorded for the healthcare sector followed by the education and the construction sectors. On the other hand, the country’s manufacturing capability has been marred by globalization where China fares better.

What should be an ideal first step for a foreigner?

The best way to begin is to log into SkillSelect which is a national skill system and allows one to submit an “Expression of Interest”. The expression of interest is nothing but an introduction of your unique skills or a summary of your qualifications. Thus, it is important to think about it thoroughly before submission. If your skill set is unique then it could give you a huge edge above your local competitors. As such, it makes sense to do a thorough research of the ‘shortage of skills’ in Australia. If you are lucky enough to be selected then you will be sent an invitation to apply for a suitable visa.

Besides, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) categorizes occupations based on qualifications where Skill Level 1 includes a Bachelor’s degree or a higher qualification and Skill Level 2 includes an Advanced Diploma or only a Diploma. The Australian economy, over the past few decades, has steered away from lower skilled jobs. Consistently, vacancies associated with Skill Level 1 were projected to increase by 10.3% over the past 5 years culminating in 2018. Skill Level 2 types of opportunities were projected to grow by 8.6% over the same time period. States of New South Wales and Victoria are expected to have large contributions in this growth.

Interestingly, if you visit the Australian Government’s Department of Employment website then you will notice that for the current times, the country really needs the following professionals (as examples):

  • Accountants
  • Audiologists
  • Automotive electricians
  • Bakers
  • Bricklayers
  • Chefs
  • Early childhood teachers
  • Hairdressers
  • Locksmiths
  • Mechanics
  • Optometrists
  • Plumbers
  • Sonographers

Sectors those are likely to grow in the next 5 years

The other way to get around the ‘shortage of skills’ philosophy is to develop an understanding about sectors that may grow in the future and consequently offer employment. Take a look at these few:

  • Healthcare and Social Assistance: Factors responsible behind the expansion involve an increase in ageing population coupled with a growing demand for childcare and home-based care services.
  • Scientific and Technical Services: Job opportunities are likely to be created within the sector of Computer Systems and Design.
  • Education: Booming strength of international students is responsible for increased demand for educationists.
  • Accommodation and Food Services: Improvements in tourism paired with the café culture are behind the expansion of this sector.
  • Recreation Services: Lucrative opportunities are expected to be created within the creative and performing arts, garden operations, horse and dog racing activities.
  • Mining: Serious shortages might plague the Australian mining industry by the end of this decade. This is because comparatively there are few takers for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects at schools. And, the current enrolments continue to witness a downward trend.

State and region specific demands

Experts down under, as they call it popularly, focus on the demands for professionals in different parts of the country. Therefore, this is your chance to look for specifics, if you have a region in mind! Although the demand for healthcare and teaching professionals may be uniform across Australia, job vacancies for creative and performing arts is more concentrated within large cities such as Sydney and Melbourne. If you have a background in Telecommunications or IT then again you can expect to find more work in the big Aussie cities. Some exciting news – the government of Queensland has recently pumped loads of resources and money into biotechnology research!

Now, if you are a folk who has a background in mining then there could be lots of opportunities in Perth (Western Australia) and Newcastle. Resources like iron ore, coal, oil, gas, and other minerals are abundant in the region. Then there are a number of large coal mines in the region of Newcastle. Last but not the least; South Australia has a rich availability of uranium, iron, copper, gold, nickel and mineral sands.

What’s happening with the major Information Technology (IT) industry?

The Department of Employment predicts that there will be a high demand for ICT and IT network professionals during 2018. This trend will be followed closely by demands for data specialists, security experts and online marketing professionals in the upcoming years.

Pull of your sleeves and explore more!