It was reported a couple of weeks ago, by Dr. Bob Birrell, that the three hundred eighty thousand new arrivals of migrants have taken the entire net employment growth from the years 2011 to 2014. However, it looks like this analysis is not only incomplete, but it is also completely mistaken.
The analysis of Dr. Birrell does not take into account the effect of Australians and migrants alike who leave the labour market. His research is like taking apples from oranges, and the number of new migrants in their new jobs is a complete overestimation. It is true that at a rough estimate, there is around fifty per cent of new arrivals who are going to end up in newly made jobs. His original claim was ninety five per cent, and that is entirely not so.
What is even more worrying is that Dr. Birrell chose to ignore the labour market’s dynamic effects. He made an assumption that there are only so many jobs to go around has been rejected by many. Labour economists have known all along that there isn’t any fixed number of jobs. According to Mr. Paul Krugman, a Nobel Laureate, this bit of labour fallacy only ”feeds protectionism” and ”encourages fatalism.” The problem with encouraging such ideas is that policy-makers halt in thinking of other ways to create more jobs. The immigration system in Australia is one of the few programs among developed countries that is accounting for this. The skilled migration program of this country is not chosen by the government, but instead, is being driven by the employers.
So what exactly is there to know about the Australian labour market and the migrants? The immigration policies of Australia have benefits that are clear and striking. Research from OECD suggests migrants coming to Australia raise wages of jobs which are low-skilled. This helps a whole deal mitigating the harmful effects of the inequalities in income-earning. Right now, as shown by Mr. Bob Gregory, an economics professor in ANU, migrants who do now know how to speak in English begin being active in the labour market through part time work, and not unemployment, as how it all happened in in eighties. Over the long term, it has an economic effect which helps in cultural and social integration.
Furthermore, Migration Council Australia has conducted a research which revealed 3 quarters of people holding a 457 visa are doing their share in training Australian workers in a range of firms. In 2013, the largest survey was done on 457 visa holders and their employers. It only proved that this effect was especially applicable in multinational companies who are the ones who hire the most number of 457 visa holders in the country.
It is a fact that innovation usually happens outside of Australia. The presence of people is an important link to creating prosperity, and their continuous movement spreads knowledge. For Australia, the movement of human capital benefits its small and open economy and it shows as a natural advantage. In the United States of America, t has been proven that there is a strong connection between research patents and temporary skilled workers.
What is unfortunate is that we know all too well there are a lot of people out there abusing the system. There are some employers who break the law for their personal gain. One of the things they do is forcing migrants to render longer hours even if they are paying lower than the market rate and in cash. As a bargaining chip, they also hold out the possibility of another visa just to get them to keep doing what they’re doing, even if it isn’t lawful. However disgraceful their actions are, the employers who do these are in the minority. According to the temporary skilled migrants who took the survey, only five per cent of employers are not doing their obligations.
To stop instances of mistreatment, more resources are being deployed, such as giving the Ombudsman of Fair Work Australia the freedom to investigate and find ways to defeat exploitation. Hopefully, the response of the Abbott Government to the newly concluded enquiry into the 457 visa program will implement a more detailed check for wages in the market. The foundation of a successful migration framework is the principle of the equality in wages for equal work.
The benefits the labour market is getting from migration isn’t exactly a distinctive phenomenon in Australia. There is a serious global research agenda that shows how big the imact is of immigration when it comes to domestic populations, and it’s almost always either neutral or agreeably positive. This becomes more obvious when skilled migration is being discussed for a developed country, one of them being Australia. At the same time, the benefits the migrants get for themselves are noteworthy, as are the benefits of the links the country forms with other bigger economies and important trade partners.
Works of those who are heavily opposing the immigration program based on fake numbers, such as the one by Dr. Birrell, drowns out the real questions Australians should be focusing on to get the answers regarding immigration policy. How will this global agenda affect Australia? In what way does inequality and immigration interact in our country? When it comes to global development, what role will the Australian immigration play which would benefit all of us? All these queries are going to define our own immigration policies in the twenty first century, and it’s about time that we start taking these things seriously. It’s for everybody’s own good, and our economy’s — and it’s future’s — prosperity.
Source: TheAge.com.au by Carla Wilshire
