POEA eyeing jobs for nurses in Australia in 2012

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) is eyeing job opportunities in Australia in 2012 for nurses and skilled workers. The POEA said Australia is still one of the least explored frontiers for skilled Filipino workers and professionals.   POEA Administrator Carlos Cao, Jr. said Filipinos should take advantage of the shortage of workers in Australia which might be beneficial for Filipino nurses and construction and mining workers. Labor Attache Jalilo Dela Torre of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) said the shortage of nurses in Australia is 40,000 until 2015. On the other hand, the shortage in the construction industry is projected upward to 750,000 construction positions over the next 20 years, she said.   She noted that 200 “mega” projects are currently lined up but the lack of workers is an issue. Cao said, “This is now the opportune time to provide viable solutions to the growing number of jobless and under-employed Filipino nurses now already numbering close to 300,000 including the 68,000 who just recently passed the latest nursing board examinations.”    “With its mining and construction boom that run short of skilled workers and its healthcare system now with an acute need for registered nurses and other allied professionals, there are tremendous opportunities to widen the gateway for jobs for Filipinos in Australia across all industries and across all states and territories,” he added.             Alternative market             Cao said Australia may turn out to be a large alternative market for overseas Filipino workers.  Every two minutes and 38 seconds, Australia welcomes a migrant from overseas, the POEA noted. Australia is a multi-cultural society with 7% Asians and 2.3% aboriginal. Also, 40% of the Australian population are foreign-born or with parents overseas, it added.   Between 2009 and 2011, Australia took in 107,868 skilled migrants, and between 2011 and 2012, a 17% increase is planned. The Federal Government is projecting the hiring of another 2.4 million migrant skilled workers in the next four years.   By 2050, 25 percent of Australia’s population of 23 million will be over 65 years old, and by then, the country will need 5.2 million skilled migrants. With Australia’s “huge skills crisis”, the number of workers under the “Skilled Migration Scheme” is capped at 180,000 every year, indicating that there are still possibilities to explore, the POEA said. - VVP, GMA News