As described in the News post of 8 July 2017, the Federal Government now maintains three different versions of the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) and the Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL). There is a fourth version for a training visa, but this is not considered here.
This use of several different versions of the lists has complicated the understanding of how they are used, while potentially providing the Government with the flexibility to remove occupations from one version while keeping them on the others. In the case of the 21 occupations in the ANZSCO Minor Group ‘233 Engineering Professionals’, none are listed on any version of the STSOL, indicating that the Government does not think there is any current or near term shortage of engineers. Rather, 18 of 21 engineering occupations are on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) that applies to independent and family nominated migrants, as well as to migrants nominated by State and Territory Governments. All 21 engineering occupations are on the MLTSSL for employer nominated permanent and temporary visas. The Government uses its ‘stockpiling theory’ to justify the inclusion of oversupplied engineering occupations on the various versions of the MLTSSL (see pages 30 and 31 of the report, and Item 1 under the ‘Corruption’ tab on this website). With the MLTSSL, the strategy is to bring migrants into the country now in case there is an upturn in the labour market, and therefore demand for their skills, in 5-10 years’ time. This is the ‘stockpiling theory’ – that professionals can be brought into a labour market now and still be available to satisfy skills shortages in 5-10 years’ time regardless of whether or not they are able to secure employment in their occupation in the meantime. In the vastly oversupplied engineering labour market, some of these migrants are placed into jobs ahead of Australian jobseekers, and the Australian engineers are then also faced with the daunting prospect of trying to return to the engineering labour market after a prolonged, enforced absence. Employers are ruthless in their selection of recruits, and an absence of two years or more makes a return to engineering very difficult. This reality of employer recruitment practices is acknowledged by the Productivity Commission, the Australian Human Rights Commission, and Engineers Australia. It is supported by data collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. In April 2017 the Federal Government announced changes to the subclass 457 visa, and its eventual replacement by the Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) visa, to be completed in March 2018. One of the big selling points of the changes was that employers would be required to undertake market testing before any subclass 457 or TSS visa could be granted to a migrant. Market testing requires employers to ‘test’ the market to see if any suitable Australian candidates can be found, and only if no local candidates are available can a migrant be granted a visa and working rights. At the same time, in a partial acknowledgment of the oversupply of the engineering labour market, the following engineering occupations were excluded from employer and State and Territory Government visa nominations (see News post of 24 April 2017). These were, and still are, among the most heavily oversupplied engineering occupations: 233111 Chemical engineer 233112 Materials engineer 233411 Electronics engineer 233511 Industrial engineer 233513 Production or plant engineer 233612 Petroleum engineer. These occupations were therefore only available on the MLTSSL for independent and family nominated visas. The Government announcements about 457 visas led to well-publicised and furious lobbying from vested interests, with the result that the Government openly stated that it was prepared to reconsider aspects of its changes. Now it turns out that not all occupations will be subject to labour market testing under the subclass 457/TSS visa regime. The Government recently published its list of those occupations for which labour market testing is required: https://www.border.gov.au/visas/Pages/general-guide-to-457-programme-occupations-which-are-not-exempt-from-labour-market-testing.aspx. Those not on the list are exempt from labour market testing. Fourteen of the 21 engineering occupations are on the list, and therefore require employers to undertake market testing for any vacancies. The following seven engineering occupations are not on the list, and are thus exempt from market testing: 233111 Chemical engineer 233112 Materials engineer 233213 Quantity surveyor 233411 Electronics engineer 233511 Industrial engineer 233513 Production or plant engineer 233612 Petroleum engineer. The six engineering occupations which were excluded from employer and State and Territory Government nominations in mid-April 2017 because they are oversupplied are now available for visa nominations from these sources. Furthermore, employers who wish to bring in migrant engineers in one of these occupations on a four year 457 visa can do so without any labour market testing. This is clear evidence that the skilled migration program is not driven by labour market conditions but, in this case, by the lobbying of vested interests. Australian engineering jobseekers continue to be treated like cannon fodder. Comments are closed.
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November 2018
CategoriesAuthorJim Oakley |