Australia needs more temporary skilled visa holders in IT

Australia, 13th April: The IT sector in Australia is in dire need of increased number of temporary Australian skilled visa holders. This has been revealed by Recruiters.

Australia is facing shortage of foreign skilled workers after a number of restrictions were introduced by the Australian immigration department in October 2007. At present, only a small fraction of temporary Australian skilled visa holders can be hired.

Recruiters allege that there is a need for review of restrictions imposed by the Australian immigration department on the total skilled workers arriving from overseas keeping in view the imminent shortage of skilled labor in the country. The changes in the Australian immigration rules have restricted the number of on-hire employers in Australia providing sponsorship to temporary 457 business visas.

The shortage of Australian skilled work visa holders could pose a threat to the Australian economy as many big projects including national broadband network might get delayed.

Acting chief executive of Peoplebank, the largest IT&T recruiter in Australia, Jeff Knowles stated that it will ask for an increase in such visas from the Australian immigration department.  Sydney has seen an increase in the demand for skilled workers by about 30 percent in January and February, 2009 and Canberra, Victoria as well as NSW is on the brink of facing imminent skills shortage, predicts Peoplebank.

Andrew Cross, managing director of Ambition Technology, has also expressed the need for reconsideration of sponsorship rules and review of number of 457 visas to be granted by the Australian government.

The need for bringing increased number of offshore skilled workers in Australia will increase many fold after the demand for IT resources moves up again, asserted Mr. Cross.

The changes introduced by the Australian immigration department regarding 457 visa sub-class came into effect in September, 2009.

As per the figures released by Department of Immigration and Citizenship Australia, a total of 1500 computing professionals were given approval for 457 visas in the year till 28th February. These figures show a decline from 2810 in the year till 28th February, 2009.