This year, due to the impact of COVID-19, acquiring a skilled migration visa for Australia has never been more challenging with reduced numbers of visas issued and increased processing times.
Despite a clear drop in the total number of visas granted since the border closures, processing of visas continues for all the skilled migration occupations, especially for those ones that are needed to support healthcare services and help rebuild Australia’s economy.
The Temporary Skill Shortage visa (subclass 482), which allows companies to fill their professional vacancies with temporary visa holders, demonstrates this change in migration. This visa has seen a shift in the types of occupations being granted visas, and while the total number of 482 visas granted has reduced, approvals are still happening to fill critical skill shortages during the pandemic.
We have compiled the list of top occupations receiving visa approvals for the Temporary Skill Shortage visa between January and June 2020, and the reduction within each occupation since the borders closed in March:
According to the data, we have seen interesting changes in the employment landscape. Industries like Health Care and Social Assistance; Professional, Scientific and Technical Services; Education and Training; and Construction have been in demand and growing strongly since the first month of the year. Recently we have seen the Government reflect the changing needs within the Australian job market by introducing a new Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) created to assist in the country’s COVID-19 recovery and includes a number of occupations within these industries. You can read the full 17 occupations included on the PMSOL here.
We can largely attribute the decrease in the overall number of Temporary Skill Shortage visas granted from March to the impact of the pandemic. From March we saw Australian borders closed to all non-residents, social distancing rules imposed, and “non-essential” business services restricted. Consequently, many industries have been impacted, like hospitality facing significant financial and operating pressures due to the forced closure of restaurants, cafes, pubs, and other venues. This has clearly affected the number of visas granted in occupations such as Chef and Cook, which were ranked in the top occupations at the beginning of the year for the 482 visa but then fell from April to June.
In contrast, some other occupations saw higher demand for their services, such as the health sector, in which visas granted to Nurses, Aged-Care Workers, and Hospital Support Staff grew considerably. Likewise, there has been a growing demand in IT roles, such as Software Engineers, Business Analysts, and Developer Programmers because of the need to adapt companies and migrate businesses to the digital field at exponential speeds.
In addition, and with the objective of starting the growth and economic progress of the country again, Australia has announced major infrastructure projects and construction grants that have had an impact on the construction industry.
So, if your dream is starting a new life in Australia, you are entering the workforce, returning to work or considering a career change, and you meet the criteria, Absolute Immigration is here to find the perfect scenario for you taking into consideration your particular situation.
