International students are landing on our shores at close to pre-pandemic rates but the numbers are still insufficient to satisfy the current supply demand imbalance, according to international recruitment specialists Drake International.
Drake have seen a 171 per cent increase in applicants over the last 12 months, and are receiving between 30 and 50 enquiries a month from British students alone who are looking to study and work in Australia, a situation the recruitment firm sees as an opportunity for employers to secure strong part-time employees in areas they are passionate about and one with the potential to secure top-tier long-term employees to fill current worker shortage gaps.
“Australia has been grappling with worker shortages across almost all sectors for such an extended period that making up the shortfall to satisfy demand will take more time even at current arrival rates much to the chagrin of desperate employers,” Christopher Ouizeman, Drake Intermnational’s CEO, told Inside Small Business.
“In the first six months of borders reopening, more than 218,100 students applied for an Australian student visa, with over 151,100 student visa applications granted,” Ouizeman added. “This has been encouraging and Drake International welcomes the government’s efforts in this regard.”
Ouizeman said that the extension of graduate visas for international students studying in areas of skills shortages shows that calls from employers and peak body groups to enable more flexibility are being heard, an initiative that he believes will greatly assist in building up numbers of available employees which our industries so desperately require.
“Upon reflection there is no doubt that two years of border closures has revealed how dependent our country is on foreign workers and that in the face of global pandemics such exposures have a profoundly detrimental impact on our nation both economically and socially,” he said.
“In our view, the solution is not only to acknowledge that as a nation we need more talent and embrace this notion but we need to welcome foreign workers and provide them with the best lived experience leading to a desire for them to remain here,” Ouizeman added. “We need to simplify visa arrangements and reduce the constraints placed upon foreign workers, only then can we achieve the right supply and demand balance and build sufficient resilience against future disruptions such as COVID-19.”
23-year-old British student Nathan Millington is coming to Australia on a student visa to study business in Perth. Describing himself as a ‘highly motivated individual’, Millington wants to move over here to continue studying, meet new people and try new things while immersing himself in the Australia culture – something he says he has wanted to do since he was 18.
And fellow British student Tia Jayne Southcott has a student visa to study marketing in Sydney. She says the city has become a destination of choice for her peers, with many opting to come here then landing employment alongside their studies. The 24-year-old first came to Australia on a Working Holiday Visa back in 2018 before jumping the ditch to work in New Zealand. Southcott is returning here to pursue further opportunities in Australia.
