indispc

When it comes to agriculture the cry of labour shortage is almost ubiquitous. Just do google search for "australia farm labor shortage." This was the article I read about a skilled tradie occupation shortage: https://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/punjabi/en/article/2018/11/09/no-takers-thousands-australian-permanent-residency-visas But something doesn't quite jive with reality in that article, and I can't figure out what. Is it that there aren't many applicants, or they're just not inviting many? Or, as the article suggests, are tradies just not using SkillSelect because they don't have enough points? Obviously illegal, but it was an online ad so virtually impossible to enforce. I suspect it was an off shore agent which is how most Asians arrange their WHV.

But why set the ceiling at 1594 when they have no intention of bringing in anywhere near that many? I'm left quite confused. I suspect the hype about labor shortage is misleading. Had similar experience when I did WHV 5 years ago. Surplus of backpackers seeking work, very little actual demand for labor. Employers who were supposedly desperate for work were turning people away by the dozen, demanding job bonds, ads asking for Asians only, putting various other unusual conditions on workers. It was more like they just wanted to toy with 'the help' than an actual labor shortage. *sigh*

Thanks for the advice. I'm following the published stats on invitation rounds here: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/working-in-australia/skillselect/invitation-rounds but there's no data on tradie occupations. Is there somewhere else where they publish more data on this? Also they don't publish how many people are still waiting to get selected. For example, the site says that the occupation ceiling for bricklayer is 1594 with only 11 invites so far this year. Does this mean there were only 11 qualified applicants?

I'm forming a long-term plan to gain PR in Australia. Based on what I've read most office and ICT occupations are highly competitive, while tradie occupations go unfilled. I currently have less than 3 years work experience in a skilled occupation. Thus my tentative plan is to gain 3-5 years work experience in one of these fields (bricklayer or tiler) and get certified. Is this approach wise? With the cut off at 80, 90 pts for office/ICT occupations, I don't believe I'd ever get an invite.