How to arrive and

The bigger picture with the forces involved

There is no queue to join outside the airport that leads to your dream job in Australia. Because of the immense size of the landmass that is Australia, being in the right place at the right time to find a job takes a bit of effort on a jobseeker’s part. Australia might have a well-publicised sub-6% national unemployment rate, but in some parts of the country it can be double that. Within certain industries it can be much higher. On the other end of the scale, there are industries that just can’t find people to fill the roles even though they pay well above the average rate. At the same time a skill that may be in demand today in one location can be redundant tomorrow. Such is the fluidity of the workplace in Australia.

Economic, technological and demographic changes are the most significant causes of skills shortages in Australia. At the same time these forces also can threaten the demand for certain skills. The Australian government believes that the long-term trends in place in Australia for the last 20 years are likely to continue. This implies that employment will continue to grow slowly or even decline in manufacturing industries. Employment growth will be highest in the service industries, which is especially the finance, healthcare, retail, accommodation and restaurant industries.
There are also three significant long-term demographic trends within Australian society that are set to continue. These are: 1) the increasing amount of part-time work, 2) a "middle-ageing" of the workforce and 3) an increased proportion of women in the workforce. As Australia's birth and immigration rates slow, the average age of the workforce will gradually rise. This ‘workforce ageing’ will be characterised by more middle-aged women joining the workforce.
People with information technology (IT) skills are in very high demand in Australia. The total number of job vacancies in the IT sector in Australia is generally believed to be around the 30 000 mark (which is similar to the UK). Other skills are in high demand as well, such as chefs for instance. Construction trades, accountancy and auditing are perennial areas of strong growth. IT shortages are thought to exist because of the attraction of higher rates of pay elsewhere in the world coupled with the mobility of IT skills.
Government statistics suggest that the present shortages are clustered in a small number of mainly professional and trade occupations, with some shortages being greatest in highly specialised areas within an occupation. These shortages can stem from cyclical fluctuations in the economy, new technologies becoming available and the exit of people from the industry for which they're trained. In specific industries such as nursing, shortages exist because of the comparatively low pay. Auditing and accounting shortages could exist because of the nature of the work.
This state of affairs is reflected in the immigration points allocated to skills when applying for a visa.
The demand for skilled workers rose the most recently in New South Wales followed by Queensland. Tasmania and the Northern Territory exhibited the lowest growth in demand for skilled workers.

Your typical Australian worker and employer

Australians are very hard workers in the main and tend to be specialized in one core skill. Specialization is a common career approach in Australia. Australians are very competitive by nature when working, perhaps because they know how hard it can be to get another job opportunity this fits their skillset well. The typical Australian worker is usually motivated to keep up with the latest in technology for their industry. Extra vocational courses (night classes or weekend courses) are always full of people updating their skills.

The typical Australian employer runs their business on a very cost-conscious basis. The number of employees are kept to a minimum and each employee will generally have more duties than just their core job description. Employers almost always try to pay the minimum salary (called Minimum Wage) for each job which is determined by the government in each state.
Australian employers are reluctant to train or equip their staff with new skills. They prefer to have a person that already has all the requisite knowledge and skills. Workers must therefore be able to not only work hard, but also be able to multitask and still be prepared to work overtime. The result of this is that the overall skill level of the Australian worker has dramatically increased.

Types of employment

Casual work is the most common kind of work in Australia and constitutes almost half of the workforce’s manner of employment. This is so because when a person moves from casual to full time their salary usually drops. Only full time employment guarantees full payment of benefits (paid holidays, sick leave, etc.). You can work as a casual in Australia for as long as you want without restriction. The main employers of casual workers are: restaurants, cafes, construction sites and retail shops – generally lower wage jobs.

Casual work is not very difficult to get in Australia. Depending on the time of the year, how good your skills and grasp of English are, you can find a job very fast in Australia, albeit lowly paid. Most of these jobs pay around A$14.50 per hour (before tax) depending on your previous experience in the area. Courses and certificates that you may have will also help to decide if you are the right person for that job.
Full time (permanent) work makes up the almost other half of the Australian labour market. It usually such conditions as 40 hour weeks, paid overtime, holidays, sick leave pay and superannuation (see below). Many companies employ people first as a casual and then after 3 months they may offer a full time position.
Work on a part-time basis is much less common. Employers tend to prefer using casuals to take the place of what could become a part-time position. The appeal of part-time work (if it’s to be found) is that of having a regular form of income, but with times fixed to your liking plus the sense of security of ‘permanent’ work. Such positions are very few and far between.