Making migration work

This is an excerpt of an article which appeared in The Australian - the full text of the article may be found at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,19567251,00.html

Andrew Robb, parliamentary secretary to the Immigration Minister, warned of the coming contest between the demands of globalisation and the backlash of tribalism and nationalism.

These tensions, now at their inception, will run for decades. They are powered by the demographic crisis. Robb highlights the grim labour market outlook for the rich nations. In the past two decades of the 20th century, 120million people entered the working age category, a figure that sinks to just five million people during the opening two decades of the new century. Such is the scale of the coming skilled worker shortage.

Rich nations have no choice. They will compete with each other globally for skilled workers. Any suggestion that Australia can meet its needs from the domestic market is nonsense.

Yes, Australia must intensify its investment in skilling, but this will complement, not substitute for, an expansion in immigration. Australia's existing high immigration intake should be higher since it cannot meet existing shortages, a restriction imposed for naked political reasons.
"We face a huge challenge to find the labour force to retain the living standards that we now enjoy," Robb says.

"In five years Australia will have 200,000 more jobs than people to fill them and that assumes immigration at its current, relatively high, level. We need a host of policy responses that unlock our labour resources. For instance, employers should be encouraged to accommodate those seniors who want to work for one, two or three days a week.

"But this problem is now on our doorstep. As I go around the country, I see 'position vacant' signs in all sorts of areas. Immigration must be a significant element of the solution. Australia needs a cultural change to meet this challenge because the demand for skilled labour within the developed world will be enormous.

These are revolutionary changes and every nation within the OECD is in the same situation. Australia has been pulling a lot of skilled workers from the UK, New Zealand and Europe. But this will get far harder. In the future we will rely more upon Asia and cultures that we have not traditionally drawn upon for skilled work.


Sourced from The Australian, © The Australian, Paul Kelly, Editor, 24 June 2006

the full text of this article may be found at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,19567251,00.html