https://sputnikglobe.com/20220829/australian-pm-slams-move-to-kick-out-foreign-workers-during-lockdown-amid-crippling-labor-shortage-1100110815.html
Australian PM Slams Move to Kick Out Foreign Workers During Lockdown Amid Crippling Labor Shortage
Australian PM Slams Move to Kick Out Foreign Workers During Lockdown Amid Crippling Labor Shortage
Sputnik International
Australia’s aging population necessitates reliance on foreign workers to fill the skill shortage gap in critical industries. Around 30 percent of the... 29.08.2022, Sputnik International
2022-08-29T10:31+0000
2022-08-29T10:31+0000
2022-08-29T10:31+0000
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australia
anthony albanese
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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has criticized his predecessor’s decision to ask foreign workers to leave the country in April 2020, arguing that the move wasn’t the “wisest decision.”The prime minister remarked that the immigrant-reliant economy needs to enhance its reputation as a “great place to live” to contribute towards the post-pandemic economic recovery.A government-backed "Jobs and Skills" summit, scheduled to be held at Parliament House in Canberra next week, will look at “maintaining full employment” in the country to help the economic recovery.The previous Australian government headed by Scott Morrison imposed one of the strictest travel lockdowns among developed nations in March 2020, due to the outbreak of the COVID pandemic.The decision barred most foreigners, including international students, skilled workers, as well as tourists, from entering the country.At the time, Morrison suggested that temporary visa holders in Australia who couldn’t afford the cost of living during the pandemic had the option of returning to their home countries.Albanese, who was the leader of opposition at the time, called for unemployment allowance under the federal "Jobkeeper" program for temporary visa-holders, a call which Morrison rejected.The Australian government lifted its travel restrictions in February this year.The ban on foreigners from entering the nation has been blamed for widespread labor shortages, with the unemployment rate at a record low and major industries such as mining, financial services, healthcare, and tourism facing severe skill shortages.The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental group comprising 38 of the world's richest nations, said in its economic outlook in June that Australia’s labor shortages were the second worst in the developed world, with only Canada faring worse.The OECD also revised its growth forecast for the Australian economy from 4.2 to 4.1 percent in 2021, and from 3.5 to 3 percent in 2023.Meanwhile, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has said that job vacancies increased by 4.6 percent in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the previous three months.Economists have warned that labor shortages could increase production costs and increase inflationary pressure amid already high energy and food prices in the wake of Western sanctions against Russia over its special military operation in Ukraine.
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australia, anthony albanese, covid-19, migrants
australia, anthony albanese, covid-19, migrants
Australian PM Slams Move to Kick Out Foreign Workers During Lockdown Amid Crippling Labor Shortage
Australia’s aging population necessitates reliance on foreign workers to fill the skill shortage gap in critical industries. Around 30 percent of the population was foreign-born, as per official data from 2019, when the population increased by nearly 200,000. The immigrant intake in 2020 and 2021 was significantly lower than in previous years.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has criticized his predecessor’s decision to ask foreign workers to leave the country in April 2020, arguing that the move wasn’t the “wisest decision.”
“It probably wasn’t the wisest decision during the pandemic to tell everyone who was a temporary visa holder to leave, and to provide them with no income and no support, which means many of them have left with ill feeling towards Australia and that spreads around,” Albanese said at the National Press Club in Canberra on Monday.
The prime minister remarked that the immigrant-reliant economy needs to enhance its reputation as a “great place to live” to contribute towards the post-pandemic economic recovery.
The Australian leader said that addressing the country’s “migration challenge” was one of his foremost priorities in the months ahead.
A government-backed "Jobs and Skills" summit, scheduled to be held at Parliament House in Canberra next week, will look at “maintaining full employment” in the country to help the economic recovery.
The previous Australian government headed by Scott Morrison imposed one of the strictest travel lockdowns among developed nations in March 2020, due to the outbreak of the COVID pandemic.
The decision barred most foreigners, including international students, skilled workers, as well as tourists, from entering the country.
At the time, Morrison suggested that temporary visa holders in Australia who couldn’t afford the cost of living during the pandemic had the option of returning to their home countries.
Albanese, who was the leader of opposition at the time, called for unemployment allowance under the federal "Jobkeeper" program for temporary visa-holders, a call which Morrison rejected.
7 February 2022, 03:37 GMT
The Australian government lifted its travel restrictions in February this year.
The ban on foreigners from entering the nation has been blamed for widespread labor shortages, with the unemployment rate at a record low and major industries such as mining, financial services, healthcare, and tourism facing severe skill shortages.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental group comprising 38 of the world's richest nations, said in its economic outlook in June that Australia’s
labor shortages were the second worst in the developed world, with only Canada faring worse.
The OECD also revised its growth forecast for the Australian economy from 4.2 to 4.1 percent in 2021, and from 3.5 to 3 percent in 2023.
Meanwhile, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has said that job vacancies increased by 4.6 percent in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the previous three months.
Economists have warned that labor shortages could increase production costs and increase inflationary pressure amid already high energy and food prices in the wake of Western sanctions against Russia over its special military operation in Ukraine.
