Is your business suffering too? Then why not think outside the square and meet your skilled employee needs from international labour markets?

A Hidden Resource

Australian companies from a range of industry sectors are finding it a necessity to look beyond Australia’s shores to fill skilled positions within their businesses. Not only in the high profile mining industry, but also in the hospitality, education, finance, health, business services, transport and recreational services sectors, Australian businesses are successfully sponsoring and employing staff of different nationalities.

Both in and outside Australia there exists a bank of overseas nationals who have recognised skills and are job ready. Such persons may be available for your company to sponsor.

Locally, within Australia, such persons may hold Student, Working Holiday Maker, Tourist or Business Long Stay visas. Overseas, of course, skilled workers are employed in a variety of occupations and industries across many countries.

Many benefits can flow from employing international staff. Apart from meeting your company’s immediate demand for a skilled worker, nominees can bring experience in a different market place, knowledge of commercial operations overseas, opportunity to develop additional trade and business links, language skills.

As an employer, you can access this hidden resource to recruit and employ skilled staff.

The Options

Employers may sponsor international staff for a temporary visa of up to four years in the Business Long Stay (“457”) category.

Occupations available for sponsorship include a large range of managerial, professional, associate professional and trade occupations, including: Marketing Managers, Human Resources Managers, Computing Professionals, Finance professionals, Project Administrators, Sports Coaches, Cooks, Hair Dressers, Carpenters and Air Conditioning Mechanics, to name but a few.

A company wishing to sponsor will follow this process:

1. Company seeks approval as a sponsor, providing details of its operations, financial standing, training record and statement of what benefit will accrue through the sponsorship.

2. Company nominates an occupation from the available list, explaining the duties to be performed and confirming the salary is above the threshhold of $41,850 or $57,300 for IT positions.

3. Visa applicant applies for the visa, providing evidence of his/her skills (education and/or employment), English language ability and good health/character. The applicant may be eligible to apply in Australia if already here, or else from overseas.

The process can be managed through the Department of Immigration’s online facility and a decision may be available within two to three months.

Once the visa is granted, the nominee can commence full time work with your company for the selected period of up to four years.

Sourcing Staff

Staff can be sourced from any country in the world, as long as they have the requisite skills to work in the available position and have a vocational level of English.

The most popular source country remains the UK - because of the similarity in the education systems and ability to speak English. Other popular countries however include India (10% of all visas granted in 2005-2006), Philippines, USA, China and South Africa. Regardless of nationality, however, Australian businesses can sponsor a national of any country who has the requisite skills.

Avenues your company may use to source international staff include:

i. Sourcing through the Department of Immigration's Skill Matching Database: www.immi.gov.au/skills/index.htm. Candidates on this database have already had their occupational and English skills tested and their employment has been verified.

ii. Advertising in online recruitment centres such as www.industryjobs.com.au, www.seek.com.au  or www.careerone.com.au. If displaying advertisements on these sites, which are regularly accessed by international career seekers, remember to indicate a willingness to consider the candidate for sponsorship on a working visa.

iii. Attending the Department of Immigration Skills Expos overseas and in Australia: www.immi.gov.au/skillexpos/.

iv. Recruiting graduates through Australian universities, for both local and international students. Especially at post graduate level, you may locate candidates with not only relevant qualifications but also experience.

v. Advertising internationally in professional or industry magazines relevant to your business sector.

When sourcing staff, remember to:

• Check their qualifications and experience
• Ask about their current visa or previous visits to Australia
• Discuss time frames for processing and start dates

Consider obtaining professional advice from a registered migration agent to ensure that the candidate you are selecting not only meets your company’s requirements but would also meet the Department of Immigration’s criteria in terms of skills, English, health and character.

When seeking to fill a position within your company, keep an open mind when a skilled candidate is not a permanent resident and consider ‘Employing Outside the Square’.

Aspire Australia, through its professional consultancy and management services, assists employers to meet skills needs through temporary and business sponsorships.

Contact Aspire Australia to discuss your business’ needs.

Telephone:                  02 9956 6011       

Email:                            visas@aspireaustralia.com.au

Website:                       www.aspireaustralia.com.au 

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