Australian businesses hire overseas talent as a last resort, TEMi finds

The labour shortage has led to reduced service capacity for nearly 50 per cent of respondents to a new survey commissioned by The Employee Mobility Institute (TEMi), with its immigration liaison officer highlighting a low reliance on overseas talent.

With three in four organisations facing challenges in finding local talent to fill roles, and over 60 per cent reporting that there were not enough candidates, new research by TEMi has revealed how organisations relied on the international talent market.

Based on its findings, 86.2 per cent of respondents said that skilled migration complements rather than replaces local hiring; however, only 10 per cent of these organisations depended on the international talent pool to fill vacancies.

In March, the institute published its survey results in its report, Employer Perspectives on Skilled Migration in Australia, which found that most organisations (64.52 per cent) prioritised domestic recruitment.

For its research, the institute collected 48 responses from organisations across Australia between 17 February and 24 March. Its findings revealed that only 3.23 per cent of these organisations relied mainly on overseas recruitment, with more than half of employers reporting that overseas workers made up less than 10 per cent of their workforce.

Further, 34.38 per cent reported that fewer than 5 per cent of their roles were filled by overseas workers.

“Employers are not looking offshore by preference; they are doing it because they have run out of local options,” said Jamie Lingham, immigration liaison officer at TEMi.

Despite this, more than 75 per cent of respondents said that overseas workers are essential to the functioning of their businesses, with nearly seven in 10 (69.70 per cent) expecting a steady reliance on migrant workers, more than a quarter (27.27 per cent) anticipated an increase, and 3.03 per cent expected a decline in reliance.

The impacts of labour shortages have led to reduced service capacity (48.39 per cent), greater workload and burnout pressures on existing staff, leading to an inability to grow or take on new work (45.16 per cent), and delays or cancellations of projects (38.71 per cent), the research revealed.

“This is no longer just a hiring challenge; it is an operational one. When employers cannot access the skills they need to meet demand, the impact flows directly through to service delivery, staff wellbeing and growth,” Lingham said.

“Having a lack of access to staff means that it inhibits or hobbles their ability to actually [sic] grow as a business ... They could take on more work if they had access to [people].”

He added that organisations were hesitant to take on migrant workers because of administrative complexity (36.36 per cent), visa processing times (75.76 per cent), and costs involved (54.55 per cent).

However, Lingham said that organisations have more cost-effective options, such as non-sponsorship hiring or hiring people on a Working Holiday Maker Visa.

“The Working Holiday Maker Visa is a really good try before you buy ... [organisations] could find people here on [the visa], they come, [an organisation] start[s] them off, and if it doesn’t work out ... there’s no liability,” he said.

“But if they move into the next stages [of] sponsoring them, then there is liability, and they do have to pay for return airfares and obviously the cost of the visa processing. So that cost and liability increase dramatically once you’ve decided to sponsor them.”

Before acquiring overseas talent, Lingham stressed the importance of seeking advice from an immigration adviser who can advise on a range of visa programs that are fit for purpose for their current needs, which can save money, anxiety, and compliance issues.

Companies with a good hiring strategy will save time and money and get a good understanding of the breadth and depth of visa strategies available to them, he said.

“Having a good strategy to actually formulate workforce planning and having overseas recruitment in your recruitment toolkit ... is vital for everyone,” he added.