Welcome 2022!
What can we expect from 2022? Well, Covid is still here! The restrictions on travel in and out of Australia are slightly more relaxed but still we need to be vigilant as rules can be changed at any time, as a Serbian tennis player recently found out!
Australia is still in dire need of both skilled and semi-skilled employees, the PMSOL (“Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List”) is just not cutting it. With all the working holiday makers and international students going back home in the last two years, the hole that they left is growing all the time. Businesses are crying out for skilled staff – you’ve heard about the Great Resignation; hotels and restaurants are struggling to open and operate due to lack of staff, the fact that the occupation of chef is on the PMSOL is testament to the government recognising that hospitality staff are vital for even a small element of economic growth. But this does not go far enough. Restaurant managers, wait staff, bar staff, cleaners, the list is endless of the type of staff that is required in Australia. And Australia isn’t even yet open to international tourism!
The government is aware of these issues and has made the interesting decision to permit international students to work more than the usual 40 hours per fortnight. This is a temporary measure and will be reviewed in April this year. The government is also making working holiday visa conditions more attractive to both employers and employees.
To sum up, from a visa perspective, we expect the borders to open up slowly but surely but that it will take some time to replenish the skilled and semi-skilled worker coffers which will slow the economic recovery which we could quite easily avoid with more open borders.
If you want to know more about the changes mentioned, please get in touch.
Have a fabulous 2022!
If you want to find out more about this, please get in touch.
+61 (0) 429 133 911
jb@kulegal.com.au
