The WA state government is encouraging employers to hire skilled migrants and fill job vacancies through several initiatives, including a construction event
The Western Australian government has hosted an event that connects construction businesses with skilled migrants, to tackle skilled labour shortages.
An initiative of WA’s Construction Migration Office, Construction Employment Connect 2024 was hosted at North Metropolitan TAFE’s East Perth campus.
This event enables face-to-face connections between construction industry employers and qualified skilled migrants, who have completed a pre-event migrant job-readiness workshop and are eager to fill job vacancies in the sector.
“We know Western Australia needs more skilled workers to build houses and meet the growing demand from a range of industries – particularly in building and construction,” training and workforce development minister Simone McGurk says.
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“Skilled migration is an important tool to fill positions that can’t be filled locally – that’s why we have fought for and secured 10,000 skilled migration places across a range of priority industries, to help us fill the many positions that can’t be filled locally.”
Training costs in the building and construction sectors of also been reduced by up to 72 per cent through the state government’s ‘lower fees, local skills’ initiative, with some courses even being made fee-free.
Refugees and asylum seekers from Ukraine and Afghanistan have been offered access to subsidised training since January 2023, to help continue to attract overseas skilled workers to WA.
To help employers cover the costs of employing a skilled migrant, the state government’s Construction Visa Subsidy Program (CVSP) offers up to $10,000 to offset the costs of migration agent fees, visa application costs and relocation expenses.