Australia / IT workers felling threatened by skilled migrants

Skilled migrants entering Australia are causing IT workers to feel threatened in their jobs, according to a new survey.

Nearly 1800 IT professionals were surveyed by recruitment firm Greythorn in the first quarter of this year, and more than one third were found to feel threatened by the amount of skilled workers entering the country.

The findings come as the government attempts to push through legislation designed to crack down on 457 visa abuse.

Greythorn managing director Richard Fischer said the political commentary on 457 visas was not beneficial to the IT industry, given the global nature of IT recruitment.

“It’s difficult for the IT industry because we need to promote bringing new skills into the country,” Fischer said.

“There are some projects that are new in Australia that have been completed in other countries and it’s much more effective to bring in experts than bring locals up to speed… I don’t see any impediment to doing that other than the negative sentiment around.”

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor

via Aussie IT workers threatened by skilled migrants: survey – Training & Development – Business – News – iTnews.com.au.