I feel very fortunate to work in the property industry in South Australia. There is so much positive momentum that we can all feel good about. Yet, with all the traction and growth comes an increased demand for skilled professionals, and levels of supply are struggling to keep pace.
In response to this shortfall, the government and industry are taking action through initiatives like BuildConnect, the Skilled Migration Talent and Industry Connection Program, and Skill Shortage Solutions Grants. These programs are designed to attract both onshore and offshore talent, offering pathways for skilled migrants to enter the workforce and for local professionals to upskill. It’s great to see.
But until these (relatively new) initiatives become well-known and fully embraced by our industry, we won't know the impact of them on the skills shortage.
The Tension: A Skills Shortage Amidst a Skilled Workforce
Despite the urgent need for white-collar professionals in the property sector, alongside trade shortages, many skilled migrants are struggling to find employment in the sector.
Every week we hear from a large number of skilled workers who have migrated to South Australia. In most instances, they have arrived here via Australia’s permanent Migration Program that '"prioritises visa processing for regional Australia” (which includes Adelaide with its ‘City and Major Regional Centre’ classification) and is designed to “help fill skills shortages in priority sectors.”
They come to us in the hope that we can help find them employment in our market, and share a number of different obstacles they are facing. While this is not exhaustive, a majority of them fall into a few areas;
Experienced, but not locally. They have industry experience from overseas (often extensive), and they are told they must have local experience to be eligible for a role here. But they are unable to get an interview to get local experience and they don’t know how to move forward.
Degree-qualified from an overseas institution.They do have a tertiary degree (often postgraduate qualifications also), however since this was not gained at an Australian university, there is a doubt/a lack of clarity over whether the knowledge acquired is equivalent to graduates of local degrees.
‘Overqualified’ for the roles they are being directed to. They have studied in Australia (usually postgraduate, on top of their foreign undergraduate qualifications) to try and help them gain entry into our market, only to be directed toward graduate programs or internships, even though they have had many years of foreign experience prior to their post-grad.
Entitled to work, but not a permanent resident. While they are on a visa that does not require sponsorship, this can be interpreted as a ‘flight risk’, even though this is a permanent migration path and they can apply for permanent residency after 3 years.
Entitled to work with sponsorship. While they are entitled to work in Australia, they do require sponsorship which can be seen as an additional hurdle for the business. While this may not apply to every visa, the cost to sponsor someone on a skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 494) is approximately $3500 (other conditions apply, however).
Local experience in an adjacent role.They were unsuccessful directly landing in their preferred position or level when they arrived, and took something just to break into the market. Now, they are trying to transition back to where they really want to be, but are hearing ‘yes you have local experience in the industry, but not in this exact role’.
With over 22 years of experience recruiting in this industry, I genuinely do understand these 'situations’ are not inconsequential and can create challenges for employers looking to tap into this market. And, the feedback we receive may only touch the surface of the real challenges.
The questions I am positing here, however, is when the industry desperately needs skilled talent, can we afford to leave so many highly capable professionals on the sidelines? And as people that are proud of our industry and our state, is this the experience people we want people to have when they want to contribute to our community?
Is There a Role for Us to do More?
While government and industry initiatives provide a framework, the businesses operating in the industry itself must take an active role in driving change. And as one of those, I’ve been asking myself a lot lately if we could do more to leverage this untapped workforce?
I hazard to suggest I have the answers, but I am keen to start a conversation about what we might be able to do differently. Here are a few thoughts to get started.
Reassessing Hiring Criteria. Are we defaulting to “local experience” without fully considering whether international expertise could be equally valuable? Can we rethink job criteria to focus on transferable skills rather than strict geographic experience? Can we re-evaluate criteria for tenders in a way that allows for migrant workers as long as they have equivalent experience or training?
Getting People Started. If local experience is a must-have, can we create more clarity around what that looks like? e.g. specific skills targets, time limit to ‘qualify’ etc. Can we create opportunities to provide this foot-in-the-door? E.g. paid traineeships with a transition into their ‘normal’ level of seniority once certain criteria are achieved etc.
Engaging with Government Initiatives.Programs like BuildConnect are fantastic, but their success relies on businesses actively participainge. Is your business participating yet? And if so, how can you wave that flag high so talent know to come to you? Can we direct the individuals that contact us your way?
Screening Talent More Dynamically. There is a role for recruiters like us, and even your internal hiring teams, to bridge the gap by assessing skilled migrants on their potential or skills, rather than rigidly adhering to traditional checkboxes like visas or Australian degrees, or merit-based hiring. What would help businesses feel more confident in considering international candidates?
Encouraging Industry-Wide Commitment. The skills shortage is an industry-wide challenge, requiring collective action. Can we work together to advocate for policies or investment into training, subsidies etc. that afford more businesses to consider skilled migrant talent?
How Can We Help?
As a recruitment partner dedicated to the property industry, we want to support businesses in accessing skilled professionals while ensuring quality and fit. If your business is keen to take advantage of the talent waiting in the sidelines, we’d love to open the conversation.
What would make it easier for you to consider skilled migrant professionals? Are there barriers we can help break down? Are you offering a program or pathway in your business that we can publicise?
It is no doubt that skilled, talented individuals are in our market right now, and are ready to work and even be flexible on what that looks like. That’s how passionate they are about being a part of our industry and community.
It’s now up to us as an industry to create the pathways that allow them to contribute meaningfully.
And if there is anything I know about the property industry, it's that we are great at building things that lead to a better future.
This is one of those opportunities.