Skilled migrants snap up remote jobs as Queensland jobless rise

ALMOST 4600 Queensland jobs have been given to foreign workers in the past year as the state's unemployment climbed to become the nation's worst. The Department of Immigration says the number of foreign workers in Queensland has increased 70 per cent on the previous year. The surge has led to the union movement to claim that the system has failed and that the training of Australians to fill the skills gap has made no headway. Employers also argue that Australians are rejecting work in remote areas where many of the jobs are. The data also showed there were 83,290 foreign workers in Australia under the 457 visa scheme which is designed to use foreign workers to temporarily fill skills gaps. But as the mining sector has drained workers from other industries, like tourism and agriculture, those industries have become desperate for staff. Fast food outlets are now also bringing in labour from the Philippines to work in places such as Roma and Mount Isa while farm hands are being sought from places such as South Africa and Korea and the food and accommodation sector has had one of the biggest increases in foreign workers. "The figures are very concerning,'' Queensland Council of Unions president and member of the Skills Queensland board John Battams said. "They are supposed to be a temporary solution and not a substitute for training.'' About 100 labourers were brought in from overseas last year along with 100 meat workers, 80 cooks and a 160 per cent increase in trades workers to 1090. Mr Battams said many employers were now using the 457 visas as a quick fix to address labour shortages rather than employing and training Queenslanders. "There needs to be more checks and balances to make sure they (457 visas) are the last resort and incentives for people to move to places where there are job shortages.'' Chamber of Commerce and Industry general manager Nick Behrens said the increase could also reflect the huge number of resource projects and the demand for high skills. He said the chamber agreed with unions that the training system had failed. "The demand for 457 workers is often because of the disinclination of Australians to travel to the regions. "If an employer needs to source workers overseas, it's because they can't get workers here.'' Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/skilled-migrants-snap-up-remote-jobs/story-e6frfm1i-1226245034704#ixzz1jaNDNJdy