Around 6,000 backpackers arrive in Australia each month. Which is far from enough to meet the country’s needs for workers.
Australia’s borders reopened in February . Yet the foreign backpackers did not return. This causes many problems throughout the country. According to the Australian version of the business newspaper The Economist, the number of “working holidaymakers” buying a Working Holiday Visa, plunged from 141,000 at the end of 2019 to 44,000 in July 2022.
Now pubs, restaurants and hotels have fewer customers due to the lack of travellers, but they are also understaffed. Bars are struggling to serve customers. Hotels have closed rooms for lack of cleaning ladies.
And this labor shortage is not limited to the most attractive cities like Sydney or Melbourne. It also strikes remote areas of the country. Many backpackers normally work at sparsely populated resorts all along the Great Barrier Reef. It is very common for travelers to start from Sydney and go back to Cairns, or vice versa, and stop for a while to work when finances make it necessary. Some are even allowed to extend their stay for a year if they spend enough time (88 days) picking fruit and vegetables from the farms or simply if they are “sponsored” by an employer.
An increase in quotas
According to the business media, “Before the pandemic, backpackers provided Australia with 80% of its seasonal agricultural labor. Their departure created a shortfall of 26,000 harvesters. Some farmers had to let the crops rot in their fields.” Australia is also struggling to find skilled workers. In all, nearly half a million positions would be vacant. That’s more than the number of unemployed Australians.
So what to do? The Australian government wants immigrants from all walks of life back. On September 2, 2022, Anthony Albanese, the Prime Minister, said he would increase the number of skilled migrants, including nurses and engineers, by more than a fifth, to 195,000 a year.
Too late for visas in Australia?
Another problem affecting the mainland island. Visa processing, delayed by administrative backlogs . “These are nearly a million applications are awaiting approval”, according to the local press . To speed up the process, the Prime Minister pledged US$24 million to recruit some 500 additional people.
Among tourism professionals, morale is at half mast. They fear that Australia is no longer as attractive to young people. According to them, backpackers still fear being caught off guard by abruptly closed borders. It will take until 2024 for net overseas migration to return to pre-pandemic levels, predicts the Committee for Economic Development of Australia.
