Australian News Today

Migrants aren’t being hired in the jobs they’re qualified for. It’s costing Australia billions

Migrants aren’t being hired in the jobs they’re qualified for. It’s costing Australia billions

Over 600,000 migrants are working below their skill level, according to a
by Settlement Services International.
“44 per cent of migrants are underutilised in Australia, and that’s a really big lost opportunity when a third of all our occupations across the nation are in shortage,” said Lily Jiang, SSI’s Activiate Australia Skills campaign manager.
“From the stories that we see and a lot of the data that we see, they end up in a lot of cleaning jobs, hospitality roles, a lot of non-permanent work like rideshare driving, taxi driving, those kinds of roles.”
According to SSI, if migrant workers had employment that matched their skill set at the same rate as Australian-born workers, $70 billion of economic activity would be generated over ten years.

This episode of SBS Examines asks why migrants are struggling to find work in line with their qualifications, amidst a skills shortage — and what the cost is to Australia.