Australian employers cautious about giving jobs to people who move often

Employers in Australia are being more cautious when it comes to hiring people who have moved around too often according to the latest outlook report from recruitment services firm Hays. They are also being very specific with their requirements, being more demanding about core and soft skills and are looking for candidates with a proven and stable background.

Employers are willing to wait to find the exact match and in some industries, such as architecture, for example, employers prefer only local candidates. When it comes to employing overseas workers, the Australian market in industries such as procurement is much more open to considering talent from the UK at present, according to the report.

IT employers are being very selective with their permanent hiring and ensuring that candidates with adequate skills and experience are hired. They would rather not hire and have an empty seat than hire the wrong person, says Hays. The report also says that where employers cannot appoint a permanent candidate, they are increasingly looking at other solutions.

‘We are seeing the increased use of temporary workers in the construction industry. There will also be strong demand for not only permanent teachers but an increase in temporary opportunities,’ the report says. ‘Temporary assignments are also a long term strategy for some employers such as those in the accountancy and finance sector. Also, employers in this space are looking for greater longevity and commitment and in return are offering more training and development opportunities,’ it adds.

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Meanwhile, more IT employers are taking employees on a contract basis in order to get them on board rather than waiting for their own internal process for permanent hires due to the length of the process involved. ‘We are also seeing the increase in temporary hires in the logistics and life sciences industries where there is expected to be a flurry of recruitment due to the launch of new products this year,’ it points out.

In the area of office support the amount of direct permanent placements has been significantly lower during the last quarter in contrast to this time last year and employers are now more than ever opting to ‘try before you buy’ and starting candidates on a temporary basis. ‘In a follow on effect, temporary to permanent placements have been significantly higher. Employers are choosing to do this for a number of reasons not least because of the amount of red tape involved with taking a candidate on in a permanent capacity,’ says the report.

In terms of long term solutions some employers are interested in candidates that can take a step up to fill a role rather than have someone more senior take a step back. ‘Therefore some companies are interested in passive candidates who aren’t necessarily active and on the market. We have also observed that employers providing a range of value add services to candidates are seeing modest growth in their firms through increased client attraction,’ it explains.

In the engineering sector, employers are ensuring they have won enough work and have projects in the pipeline before recruiting. However, businesses have become extremely strategic and prefer to utilise their own staff for internal transfers interstate to fill positions and IT employers are placing high emphasis on industry experience along with technical capability.

‘Employers still seem to prefer to hire candidates on a temporary or contract basis initially and then transfer them to their payroll or make them permanent when they’ve either proven their ability and cultural fit or the organisation is better positioned to offer a permanent placement,’ the report concludes.

Source  http://www.australiaforum.com/information/jobs/australian-employers-cautious-about-giving-jobs-to-people-who-move-often.html

457 visa change won’t save jobs: IT recruiters

The technology recruitment sector says changes to the temporary skilled worker 457 visa program requirements, introduced by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Brendan O’Connor, at the weekend do not address the real employment threats posed to local tech workers from offshoring and will have little impact on hiring practices.

The technology sector has been accused of taking advantage of loopholes in the immigration system to employ skilled workers from lower-cost countries such as India in preference to more expensive Australian workers. On Saturday, Mr O’Connor said changes were being instituted across industry sectors to ensure jobs for Australian workers.

However, experts from within the technology recruitment and offshore outsourcing industry said previous reforms had already tightened the ­system enough to make it too expensive to bring in much-needed skills from overseas. Some also warned that the changes meant it was more likely that some roles would now simply be outsourced instead.

The chief executive of the Australian and New Zealand IT contract and recruitment industry body ITCRA, Julie Mills, said the IT recruitment sector would welcome moves to institute consistent and effective reviews of employers across all sectors that were rorting 457 visas.

But she said on-hire arrangements of 457 visa workers were already rigorously restricted by the existing agreement, which limits the number of such visas companies in recruitment can bring into Australia. Ms Mills suggested that offshore outsourcing of skilled positions was more of a threat to tech jobs than 457 workers and that efforts would be better directed towards focusing on training.

“For all recruiters, including ICT, the opportunity to bring in skilled overseas workers requires a rigorous assessment of need via the 457 labour agreement process – so the changes being discussed, I would suggest are already entrenched in the process for recruitment companies,” she said.

“A bigger concern is the offshoring of ICT process and administration roles rather than the 457 visa program. The ICT sector and the contract and recruitment companies would always look to the local market across all states, but if the right skills are not available in the right place then projects cannot wait until the talent re-skills or graduates – particularly in IT which is often central to any infrastructure and business development at both a government and private enterprise level.”

The managing director of technology at recruitment firm Ambition, Andy Cross, said his company had stopped sponsoring workers on 457 visas when the system was last tightened up in 2009 as the process was too onerous.

However, he said tightening up the ability to bring in skilled workers went against the global nature of the IT industry and meant shortages of skilled workers in high demand areas would go unmet.

“With falling demand for undergraduate technology courses and an aging population, it’s obvious we can’t realistically expect to meet current or future demand with our current homegrown supply,” Mr Cross said.

“We probably need to be encouraging overseas applicants to meet market demand and support the technology industry. Supporting local resources first is admirable but perhaps the minister should be looking simultaneously at ways to actively dissuade Australian companies from continuing to outsource IT roles to cheaper cost bases overseas.”

A director at Mindfields, Mohit Sharma, said the changes to 457 rules would have little impact on the local IT jobs market as the outsourcing market had matured in the past five years to such an extent that most high-value work was performed by global teams at large IT companies.

“The IT industry is highly virtually globalised. How many Cloud specialists do AMP or ANZ have? They have none,” he said.

“There is a high demand for these skills, but numbers are very low. Offshoring of such roles will increase but not to low cost destinations.”

Source  http://www.afr.com/p/technology/visa_change_won_save_jobs_it_recruiters_LnRT3ioZvqNIxmC1jVb1bL

State Government must better promote Adelaide as it loses fight to attract international students

THE state's biggest university and industry leaders have demanded the State Government better promote Adelaide as an education destination because it is losing the battle to attract international students.

Federal Government figures show the number of international students enrolling in tertiary courses in SA fell more than any other state in the past year, costing the economy more than $20 million.

Enrolments in SA declined nearly 10 per cent to 28,191 last year from 31,278 in 2011.

Nationally, the average drop was 6.9 per cent, while the next most affected state was Victoria, where there was a 7.8 per cent decline.

UniSA deputy vice-chancellor (international and advancement) Nigel Relph told The Advertiser his main concern was the sharp decline in international students coming into schools and TAFE SA, who would then feed into the universities.

"I would say that government support should be directed towards international recruitment for VET and schools and also destination marketing for the state as SA is still less well-known internationally than the eastern states," he said.

Australian Council for Private Education and Training chief executive Claire Field said the decline in SA was worse than the rest of the country because ministers in the eastern states were better spruiking their state as an education destination.

Source  http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/state-government-must-better-promote-adelaide-as-it-loses-fight-to-attract-international-students/story-e6frg6n6-1226580666832

Sky Blues keep Chianese with one-year deal

Sydney FC are showing no signs of slowing down their recruitment drive, having re-signed striker Joel Chianese on Monday morning on a one-year deal.

The 23 year-old made a name for himself last season by bagging six goals in just nine appearance but he has had a frustrating campaign with the Sky Blues and has been limited to just six appearances due to injury. He will be given another chance to prove himself under the tenure of Frank Farina after agreeing terms to a new one-year deal early on Monday morning.

Chianese has returned to full fitness and has been used a substitute in the club's last two home wins against Adelaide United and Brisbane Roar. His new deal comes just two days after Sydney signed Socceroos captain Lucas Neill for the remainder of the season.

The striker was coming off contract and rival clubs had signalled their interest in signing him. However, Sydney maintained a regular line of communication regarding a contract extension and Chianese had no hesitation in re-signing when the offer eventually arrived.

"With every player there's always opportunities out there but for me the club approached me pretty quickly. They let me know their intentions of keeping me here, they had faith in me, they obviously said to me they know what I can do on the park so for me it wasn't really a tough decision."

Sydney FC also in the final stages of negotiations with Alessandro Del Piero's agent over securing the Italian great for another season. His agent and brother, Stefano, arrived in Sydney at the end of last week to finalise a one-year contract extension and held talks with chief executive Tony Pignata over the weekend.

"It keeps getting bigger and bigger," Chianese said. "We have Alessandro, one of the legends of the game and now we have the Australian captain, it's great. The type of people they are, they don't think they're better than anybody else so it's great to have those guys in."

Job cuts as South Australia Police forced to find $150 million in savings

METROPOLITAN police stations could be closed to help cut the police budget by $150 million.

Police Minister Michael O'Brien said the closure of smaller "shop-front" stations is among measures being discussed to meet the savings target over the next four years.

"There's been a significant decline in patronage at what I call the shop-front, outlier police stations," he said.

"It could well be that the smart thing to do is to wind back on a number of those and get those police officers out on the beat.

"Increasingly the public of South Australia are embracing online solutions and SAPOL are increasingly moving to receiving a whole range of reports ... by online lodgement."
Police officers in Rundle Mall

Police officers walk the beat in Rundle Mall. Picture: Calum Robertson

Mr O'Brien said country police stations were not being considered for closure "at this stage".

Mr O'Brien said he will explore possible cuts with Police Comissioner Gary Burns over the next three days, but reiterated a State Government commitment not to cut police numbers.

"We will find the maximum savings that we can within SAPOL but they will not be savings that will in any way bring about a reduction in the size of the police force," he said.

"I don't believe at this point in time, from what I have seen, that they will be sufficient to get us to where we want to be so we may have to return to the budget process and do a top up."

 It comes as South Australia's police union today meets Commissioner Gary Burns amid grave concerns the number of officers on the beat must be cut to meet huge savings ordered during the next four years.
Police officers in Rundle Mall

The police budget must be slashed by more than $150 million in the next four years. Picture: Calum Robertson

Mr Burns has been asked to find $150 million of savings from the SA Police budget over the next four years. He will meet police union representatives today after yesterday conceding savings likely would be made through reduced staff costs .

In 2011-12, SA Police spent $616.5 million on employee benefits expenses and $134.5 million on supplies and services.

Check SA Police's financials, starting on page 104 of their 2011-12 annual report, and leave your suggestions for how the budget savings target should be met in the comments box below.

Premier Jay Weatherill and Police Minister Michael O'Brien have ruled out any reduction in police numbers.

But Police Association president Mark Carroll told adelaidenow the union's members had grave concerns about the implications of cuts for frontline officers.

"With budget cuts of this magnitude now expected in the next four years, it will be extremely difficult to meet them without reducing staff numbers," he said.

"The Government has committed to recruiting an additional 313 police by  2016. Imposing massive cuts to the police budget seems at odds with that promise.

"The association is meeting with Commissioner Burns (today) and will formally request that he identify where the savings will be made."

The budget cuts are in addition to a forecast reduction in sworn officers and cadets - down by 71 to 4535 in June 2013 - compared with a year ago.

Victims' Rights Commissioner Michael O'Connell said any cuts to services would be detrimental to victims and the public in general.

"Victims and other members of the public want the police to be seen dealing with crime, enforcing the law and keeping them safe," he said.

"Hopefully, the cut in the police budget does not impede the Commissioner who is committed to making the police visible, responsive and available."

Mr Burns said almost 80 per cent of the police budget was tied to salaries, wages and superannuation.

"To find those savings will be a very difficult exercise for us," he said. "The last thing we want to do is reduce police numbers but it's on the cards that we will actually  have to look at our workforce."

The budget will be cut by $19.3 million in 2012-13, $31.8 million in 2013-14, $44.5 million in 2014-15 and $57.1 million in 2015-16.

The cuts will have to be balanced against an enterprise bargaining agreement, brokered in March 2011, allowing for a 17 per cent increase in police base salaries over three years.

Mr Weatherill said the Government could not be criticised about the resources it had given to police. "I can rule out any cut in police numbers. In fact police numbers will grow," he said.

"It's gone from 3700 to 4500 at present and will be 4700 by 2016." Mr O'Brien said the State Government was committed to recruiting 313 additional police officers by 2016.

"We are working with SAPOL to ensure any savings do not impact on frontline services," Mr O'Brien said.

Family First MLC and former police minister Rob Brokenshire said savings targets would likely be met by delaying recruitment, rather than sacking officers.

"I cannot see how, with cuts of that magnitude, that there will not be a significant impact on frontline operation police services," he said.

"Above replacement of those retiring, there will be no recruitment services in the next two years. Worse than that could be a net depletion of police numbers due to the budget cuts being so dramatic that they simply can't replace those retiring."

Mr O'Connell said he would be disappointed if the budget cuts prevented the Commissioner from establishing a Police Victims Unit, which he had previously flagged.

Budget and Finance Committee chairman Rob Lucas said police would need to look at both officer and staff numbers to meet the budget cuts.

"For the first time today a police commissioner has confirmed a reduction in total police numbers," he said.

Source  http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/budget-cuts-could-mean-fewer-police-on-duty/story-e6frg6n6-1226575351167

Jobs Start-Up OneShift Eyes Capital For Expansion

Australian online recruitment services start-up OneShift is in talks with potential equity partners as its seeks to grow its footprint, managing director Genevieve George told Deal Journal Australia.

Ms. George founded the business in June last year after returning from a working holiday year abroad where she discovered the lack of flexibility and availability of short-term work.

“I made a deal with cafes who would give me shifts and I’d assure them that if I didn’t turn up because I was traveling, someone else would,” explained Ms. George.

In just eight months since its inception in Sydney, OneShift now has 70,000 registered users  and more than 2,000 businesses or households across every Australian state and territory, and has recorded 2 million page views in the past three months.

Though the website initially targeted 18 to 24 year-olds in the hospitality industry and offers roles as diverse as nude modelling, 38% of its users are skilled radiographers, dental assistants, paralegals and engineers, among others.

“Our oldest user is a 78 year-old retiree who accepts project management opportunities when he wants to, while our youngest is 15 years-old,” Ms. George said, noting that the site also offers job-sharing opportunities which is often seized by

Based on performance, users are rated by employers, who in turn, are verified by OneShift once they have paid their employee. While it doesn’t charge companies for posting job ads, the start-up’s revenue is derived from an business’ decision to engage with members; it charges A$22.00 for three introductions and A$5.50 for every one thereafter.  Companies can speak to potential staff via instant or video chat within the site or via telephone, though each member is responsible for providing their personal contact details directly.

Staff are matched on location, skills, and availability and a smartphone app will soon allow users to update their profiles based on geographic changes, for example, if they arrive in Melbourne from Sydney. Another feature which will be added is the inclusion of a calendar which allows members to block out dates like birthdays or university commitments so that employers can access exact availabilities.

OneShift will be launching in New Zealand in the first half of calendar 2013, and has ambitions to expand into Southeast Asia and the northern hemisphere, only after solidifying its Australian position.

Sydney-based Oaktower Partnership is advising OneShift on a potential transaction, which is in response to unsolicited approaches.

Source  http://blogs.wsj.com/dealjournalaustralia/2013/02/06/jobs-start-up-oneshift-eyes-capital-for-expansion/?mod=google_news_blog

Australian union ramps up nationalist campaign against guest workers

Since the beginning of the year, Australia’s largest construction union has been conducting a reactionary nationalist campaign targeting guest workers with the intent of scapegoating them for rising unemployment in the construction, mining and manufacturing sectors.

The restrictive 457 temporary work visas scheme allows Australian companies to employ overseas workers for up to four years, provided they can demonstrate the recruitment is necessary to fill skills shortages. Those employed under the scheme must receive the same wages and conditions as their Australian counterparts.

Two weeks ago, the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) called on the federal Labor government to impose a freeze on the recruitment services of tradespeople on 457 visas. CFMEU national secretary Dave Noonan declared: “The fact that the government is allowing a blowout in 457 and other temporary work visas when tens of thousands of construction jobs are being lost is just crazy policy.” He claimed “too many employers are rorting the visa system to get cheap compliant labour.”

The union also made an extraordinary submission last month to the Senate inquiry considering a draft Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill aimed at amalgamating existing statutes covering age, disability, race, sex and other forms of discrimination. It called for employers to discriminate against guest workers when implementing sackings.

“Our view is that commonwealth and state anti-discrimination laws should explicitly provide that discrimination by employers in favour of Australian citizens and permanent residents not be prohibited by the consolidation legislation,” the submission stated. It demanded overseas workers be sacked first in any downsizing or restructure.

So much for the declaration on the CFMEU’s web site proclaiming the union “welcomes migrants to our industry” and takes a “stance against all forms of racism and sectarianism”. In fact, the union’s persecution of immigrant workers is not new. It has a history of informing on so-called “illegal” immigrants on construction sites to immigration authorities, resulting in police raids and deportations.

The union campaign has nothing to do with defending jobs in the construction industry or stopping the exploitation of guest workers that undoubtedly takes place by employers seeking “cheap, compliant labour”. The real purpose of whipping up this “Australia first” nationalism is to divert attention from the ongoing job destruction taking place under the Labor government and the role of the unions in enforcing the restructuring demanded by big business.

Since the onset of the global economic crisis in 2008, large sections of the economy have been devastated. In manufacturing alone more than 130,000 jobs have been eliminated. By the CFMEU’s own estimate, some 68,000 construction jobs were destroyed over the same period. Following last year’s marked slowdown in the Chinese economy, investment and output in the mining industry has also declined, with the axing of 10,000 jobs.

In every instance, the unions blocked any fight by workers to defend jobs and working conditions. Last year, the CFMEU oversaw the “orderly closure” of several coal mines including the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi (BMA) Norwich Park and Gregory open cut pits in Queensland. Hundreds of jobs were destroyed.

In construction, the CFMEU has collaborated with companies to drive up productivity through the imposition of greater “flexibility”, the dismantling of protective work practices and the policing of ever more stringent deadlines. These processes not only cut back on jobs but also undermine safety. According to the latest official statistics, 30 workers died in the construction industry during 2010-11—second only to the number of deaths in agriculture.

The CFMEU’s nationalist campaign is being openly backed by sections of the Labor Party. Senator Doug Cameron, the national convenor of the party’s so called “left” faction, has called for a “hard-headed analysis on the need for 457 visas” and “a reassessment of the numbers of 457s required given the downturn in manufacturing, building and construction.”

It is no accident that the scapegoating of guest workers comes in an election year. Like the targeting of refugees, the attacks on “foreign” workers will be used to divert public attention from the responsibility of the Gillard government, backed by the unions, for the avalanche of job losses and the slashing of essential social services.

The federal government, which has been careful not to alienate the major mining corporations, has not yet commented on the CFMEU’s call for a freeze on the issuing of 457 visas. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Julia Gillard signalled the introduction of new procedures to give priority to “Australian jobs” when the government came under criticism for approving guest workers for the Roy Hill project.

The mining industry unions denounced the recruitment of 1,700 overseas workers for the $9.5 billion Roy Hill mining project in Western Australia that is being developed by a consortium led by Australia’s wealthiest person, Gina Rinehart. Australian Workers Union (AWU) national secretary Paul Howes, a key political backer of Gillard, described the hiring of guest workers at Roy Hill as “sheer lunacy”. The CFMEU in Western Australia launched an openly chauvinist campaign, paying for newspaper and radio advertisements denouncing “foreign workers taking your jobs.”

The unions have a long history of whipping up nationalism and racism to divide the working class, going back to the xenophobic White Australia policy that remained in force until the 1960s. The unions subsequently backed immigration restrictions and the compulsory detention of refugees initiated by Labor in the 1980s and extended under the succeeding governments.

Workers must reject the unions’ attacks on “foreign” workers and champion the right of workers to live and work in any country of their choosing with full citizenship rights. The profit system, not guest workers and refugees, are to blame for rising levels of joblessness and the destruction of social services. Any struggle to defend jobs necessitates a political break from those who defend capitalism, including the unions and Labor Party, and a unified fight by workers across national borders. The Socialist Equality Party calls for the formation of rank-and-file committees in every workplace for a workers’ government and socialist policies.

Source  http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/02/04/aust-f04.html

Locals losing out on jobs because of high immigration

HIGH immigration is harming the job prospects of young Australians, says a Monash University study.

The report found about 200,000 migrants who arrived here over the last two years had found work.

This equalled the total number of new jobs created in Australia over the same period.

Monash population expert Dr Bob Birrell said Australians faced ferocious competition from the new arrivals, especially in less-skilled jobs in areas such as manufacturing, retail, construction and food services.

"This had a harmful impact on the level of employment, participation in the labour market and the working conditions of other Australians, particularly young people," he said.

"There is a strong case for a re-evaluation of migration policy in these circumstances."
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Dr Birrell's report, The Impact of Recent Immigration on the Australian Workforce, was co-written by Dr Ernest Healy and will be released today.

It comes as the nation's annual migration program is at a record high of 210,000, and the country is awash with a million temporary entrants, most of whom have work rights.

High immigration has bipartisan political support, despite a recent Galaxy poll, which showed that 70 per cent of Australians don't want the population to hit 40 million by 2050 as projected under current migrant intakes.

The Monash report said that high immigration was continuing as unemployment was worsening - there were 418,000 Australian-born people out of work in November last year compared to 338,000 four years ago.

And the total number of Newstart and Youth Allowance recipients had soared from 501,000 to 672,000 over the same time.

Dr Birrell said that young people without post-school qualifications faced serious problems getting work in the current job market, and they often competed with temporary migrants in the hospitality and retail sectors.

"Yet these are the very industries that have been hardest hit in the recent slow down in employment growth," he said.

The belief that Australia was "importing a highly educated addition to its skilled workforce, which is helping to fill skilled vacancies is largely incorrect", he said. 

Source  http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/locals-losing-out-on-jobs-because-of-high-immigration/story-e6frf7kx-1226568163500