Update on Australia Migration: Depart of Home Affairs, Australian Government has released ‘The number of 491 and 190 primary applicant invitations allocated to each state and territory in Australia for the 2020/21 program.

2020-21 interim nominations allocations for States and Territories (1 July – 31 December, 2020)

Source: https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/

Engineers Australia update-

Lockdown measures have caused unprecedented declines in the overall job market, and although engineering-intensive industries have fared better than others, it is not immune to this trend. We investigate what the latest figures tell us, and what we can expect over the course of 2020.

COVID-19 restrictions have dealt an added blow to Australia’s overall labour market, which was already feeling the effects of prolonged drought and bushfires. According to data released this week, online job vacancies across the board increased in May by 31.1% (or 21,700 job advertisements) but, year-on-year, there has been a drop of 49.0%. 

The engineering profession generally reflects broader workforce trends. However, the past month shows that engineering-intensive industries that were slower to feel the effects of the COVID-19 health response lockdown may also be slower to recover as restrictions are eased.

According to Engineers Australia analysis, and in contrast to economy-wide results, engineering job advertisements fell by 8.7% (or 9,400 job advertisements) in May.

Australian engineering vacancies have steadily declined in the last 12 months—by 44.2% in annual trend terms (or 78,000 job advertisements). This decline has accelerated in 2020.

“The biggest monthly decline for engineering vacancies since records began in 2006 occurred in April, so this result for May is an indicator that the recovery might be beginning, albeit slowly,” said Senior Policy Advisor Sybilla Grady.

Engineers Australia analysis shows that in the first quarter of 2020 – before the full effects of the pandemic restrictions had taken effect – all states and territories experienced contractions in the number of jobs advertised.

“This formed a baseline against which the effects of lockdown can be measured,” Grady explained.

Job vacancies can provide a valuable gauge of the state of the labour market because they are an indicator of unmet demand for labour in the economy. When the demand for labour is strong, the levels of vacancies will also generally rise. Analysing movements in engineering vacancies can provide a broad indication of the direction of the engineering labour market.

With the job vacancy data to the end of May now available, it is clear that the recovery will not be a quick “V-shape”, but is likely to be a slower, elongated, “U-shaped” recovery.

Drivers of demand

The top 10 engineering occupations, in terms of number of advertised job vacancies over the past 12 months, are as follows:

• Civil engineers
• Mining engineers
• Industrial, Mechanical and Production engineers
• ICT Support and Test engineers
• Electrical engineers
• Other engineering professionals (not elsewhere classified)
• Engineering managers
• Telecommunications professionals
• Electronics engineers
• Chemical and materials engineers

On a three-monthly average basis, the top three jurisdictions for employment are, in descending order, NSW, Queensland and Western Australia.

In the past three months, the most significant declines in advertised roles occurred in Victoria (-33.2%), NSW (-23.6%) and Queensland (-16.4%).

Source: https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/News/effect-covid-19-engineering-jobs-what-we-know-so-far

ACS update:

COVID-19 UPDATE

The ACS Migration Skills Assessment Team would like to assure applicants and migration agents that we have robust business continuity plans in place during this time. All of our systems and processes are functioning as per normal and we would encourage you to continue to submit your migration skills assessment applications with us.  

We are aware that applicants may be adversely impacted by the current pandemic and again want to assure applicants that our customer service channels through phone and email are operating as normal. Please reach out to us through these channels should you have any queries or are facing challenges in relation to your migration skills assessment applications. 

GLOBAL TALENT INDEPENDENT PROGRAM

The Global Talent Independent (GTI) program is designed to attract the best and brightest skilled migrants to Australia in a number of sectors. Candidates who meet eligibility requirements are invited by the Department of Home Affairs (DoHA) to apply for a Distinguished Talent visa. The Department of Home Affairs accepts GTI nominations from the ACS. Please refer to the GTI section below for further information.

Source: https://www.acs.org.au/msa/information-for-applicants.html