Studies done by Engineers Australia on migrant engineers

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Studies done by Engineers Australia on employment of migrant engineers

1. The document “Engineering Skilled Migrationâ€, Peter Cockbain, National President, Engineers Australia, March 2006 - available here states that:

Studies have shown that migrants with Australian university qualifications compete more successfully in the Australian labour market than individuals from any other

migrant stream.

For migrant engineers sponsored by an Australian employer it is reasonably fair sailing into the Australian labour market. However, for many migrants who enter

under the independent permanent migration stream, gaining employment in the Australian labour market as an engineer is extremely difficult. This is despite these

individuals having engineering qualifications recognised by Engineers Australia

Generally a number of factors are keeping migrants out of jobs. These include:

a. scepticism by employers about the strength and value of the person's qualification;

b. lack of Australian work experience and unfamiliarity with Australian standards and regulations and understanding the work culture;

c. problems preparing Australian job applications ;

d. ability of the prospective employee to present relevant/local experience;

e. ability of the prospective employee to navigate job search and employment practices; and

f. Cultural/racial barriers.

2. The document “THE ENGINEERING PROFESSION A Statistical Overviewâ€, Seventh Edition, 2010, available here shows that:

In 2006, the labour force of qualified engineers was 249,791.

a. In 2006, the unemployment rate for qualified engineers in Australia was 2.95% compared to 5.24% for the general work force.

b. The unemployment rate for migrant qualified engineers with degrees was 1.95% and the unemployment rate for Australian born qualified engineers was 1.0%.