The welcome news that the government will host a jobs and skills summit in September has excited business and industry groups, who see it as an opportunity to push for a temporary doubling in our annual skilled migrant intake to lessen the disruptive effects of an unprecedented labour shortage.
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It is an issue of national importance. The impact of pandemic-era international border closures combined with an already tight labour market saw the number of vacant jobs touch new highs in May - now, almost 500,000 jobs need to be filled.
Temporarily boosting our skilled migrant intake will help in the short-term. But with the September summit representing a rare opportunity for government, business and unions to collaborate on policy, the real focus should be on overhauling our needlessly complex skilled migration regime to ensure we are able to attract workers with the skills we need.
The highest order priority is to clearly signal to the world Australia is open for business. This is because our pandemic-era border policies have created a lasting level of uncertainty among potential skilled migrants who want to know they'll be able to get in and out of the country without complication.
Then there are a few steps we can take to make it easier for businesses to get the highly skilled workers they need. First, the list of occupational classifications must be overhauled. Every applicant for a temporary or permanent work-related visa must nominate an occupation from the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO).
It seems fair enough - except for the fact the ANZSCO hasn't been significantly updated since 2013, when many of the nation's fastest-growing jobs had barely been invented. According to ANZSCO, two of the fastest-growing jobs identified by LinkedIn as far back as 2018 (customer success manager and full stack engineer) don't exist.
It means businesses on the cutting edge of the new economy such as Atlassian and Canva say they face unacceptable complexity when attempting to fill roles crucial to our future - or are simply unable to do so.
It is clear the current system is not fit for our dynamic modern economy. ANZSCO must be replaced by a new occupation and skills identification system that offers the flexibility to adapt to emerging labour markets.
Secondly, we must make Australia a more attractive destination to highly-skilled migrants by providing clarity around pathways to permanent residence. As beautiful as our beaches are, they won't be enough to attract the in-demand workers we need unless they are sure they can build a life here.
There has been some action in this area. From July 1, 2022 temporary and legacy skills shortage visa holders on the short-term list will be allowed a pathway to permanent residence if they meet certain criteria.
This is a start, but we need a pathway to permanent residence for all company sponsored temporary residents.
Finally, thought should be given to reworking our regional skilled migration visa categories, which exist to help rural and regional businesses get the workers they need but are often avoided by these businesses due to their complexity and added expense.
For example, all applicants for a Subclass 494 employer-sponsored regional visa must have their skills assessed by the designated assessing authority for eligibility, which blows out processing times.
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Meanwhile, a small regional business trying to bring in a worker on company-sponsored permanent residence visas must pay a mandatory 'Skilling Australians Fund Levy' of $3000.
Migration has been, and will continue to be, core to our successful development as a country.
It's a hot-button political issue, but within the context of a national workforce strategy we can and must have a mature discussion that can benefit all Australians.
- Fiona Webb is partner in charge of Deloitte Australia's National Global Employer Services and national immigration lead. David Rumbens is a partner at Deloitte Access Economics.
