Victorian Minister for Manufacturing, Exports and Trade Richard Dalla-Riva has chaired a roundtable forum of engineering industry leaders aimed at developing a national strategy to address the sector’s increasing skills shortage.

 

The Engineers Australia Strategic Workshop discussed methods to improve employment prospects for highly skilled local and overseas engineers in the state’s manufacturing, construction, consulting and IT sectors.

 

“Australia has a shortage of skilled professionals, especially in the critical area of engineering, and this is an issue when local projects are competing internationally for the best-skilled labour,” Mr Dalla-Riva said.

 

“Skilled migration is needed to complement the supply of local labour, ensuring our engineering industry has access to the highly skilled workforce it needs to generate productivity and economic growth.”

 

"Recent changes to Australia's migration program have created opportunities for engineering employers to use employer sponsorship, ensuring a direct match between their long term vacancies and incoming global talent.

 

"Employer sponsorship provides industry with the opportunity to ensure a direct match between incoming global talent and the skills required to sustain productivity and economic growth.

 

"One of the key challenges facing the engineering industry is supporting all employers to take advantage of these recent changes.

 

"Employers who are adept at using employer sponsorship to recruit global engineering talent have the opportunity to secure a significant competitive advantage."

 

The Victorian Government recently announced an investment of $8.8 million over four years to ensure Victoria's skilled and business migration program meets industry needs in Melbourne and regional Victoria.

 

"Victorian manufacturing companies need to be competitive and this can only be achieved by combining local talent and skilled migrants to assist the sector to grow," Mr Dalla-Riva said.