UK School Leavers and Australia

[Guest The Pom Queen]

As a result of the tuition fee rise tens of thousands of students who would ordinarily take a gap year have decided not to, and so have entered an already crowded admissions system. As a result, similar to squeezing a balloon, tens of thousands of other students will now not get University places and so be forced to take a gap year.

Last year around 200,000 young people applied for University and didn’t get in. This year the combination of (a) less courses as a result of University budget cuts (b) places already taken by those with the right grades who didn’t get in last year and so got in early this year and © the gap year anomaly, some experts are predicting over 220,000 not getting into University. I’ve even heard wild reports of up to 250,000. But we’ll see what the final number ends up. Whatever it is, it will be a large number.

And with nearly one million young people unemployed in the UK and unemployment high in regional areas, the big question is ‘What are these 200,000 young people going to do?’ Technically until they get a job or ‘sign on’ as unemployed they are on a gap year, so the gap year numbers certainly will grow this year. How many will travel during their year and make it to Australia? Who knows. My view that the Australian backpacker industry isn’t marketing their jobs hard enough to this UK group is well known.

If you’re an 18 year old NEET (‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’) in the UK the lure of well paid jobs in Australia is strong. Sadly as this is managed by a Tourist ‘Working Holiday Visa’ and not a ‘J1′ Visa similarly to the US, most of these people are put off by the expensive indirect route to jobs offered to them through travel companies, as opposed to a clean direct route through recruitment companies.

Next year everyone will be in the same boat in the UK, so the University deferral rate will return to the usual figures. University places and jobs for young people, however, are unlikely to return, so we’ve entered a period of a downward spiral as gradually more and more don’t get into University as the bottle-neck of demand out-stripping supply continues to grow.

So the customers for the Australian backpacker market in the UK exist, and they exist in numbers. The Australian market’s ability to unlock that value whilst tied to the WHV remains doubtful.

A model based on the J1 visa used in the US controlled by each Australian state whereby they issue work visas based on the jobs available, seems to be a sensible and logical way forward for a country with a shortage of labour to connect with a country with mass unemployment. Organisations like BUNAC and CCUSA already have the infrastructure and expertise for this in the UK, operating the J1 visas for the American market. The J1 job allocations for the US are usually full within months of opening the applications. It certainly looks like it’s time for Australia to follow suit.

Jumbos full of willing UK job-seekers should be taking off from Heathrow in 2012, flying direct into the regions where they’re needed. More UK workers in the region will mean more backpacker wealth and more economic disperal of the backpacker dollars into the travel sector.

We know there is an appetite for this at both ends. What is missing is industry pressure, Australian Government support and political will.

[Guest Kyoto]

If such a connection was made and the visa process was changed, I wonder how that would affect individuals like myself who see the ease of obtaining a WHV as a major point in Australia's favor. What greatly concerns me is this, "The J1 job allocations for the US are usually full within months of opening the applications. It certainly looks like it’s time for Australia to follow suit." This means that someone who has the means to just pick up and move would likely not be able to. They'd have to wait. And what would determine the qualifications? Would you then need to be matched a specific job, and if you didn't match any specific job, you would be denied? And if most of these jobs are low-skill jobs of the type that backpacker positions usually are, does that mean that there might be a push to deny people who are too qualified? Finally, and most critically, the J-1 visa does NOT count for permanent residency or citizenship. It prevents individuals from getting other working visa types in the US for two years. For Australia, the WHV does, which is one of the best parts of using it if you have the education level and need the WHV to make the connections to gain sponsored employment.

Edited August 30, 2012 by Kyoto

[Paul1Perth]

Even planning to go travelling needs a certain amount of spare cash. There's passports, visas, backpacks, flights etc. to pay for upfront. If things are as bad as I keep hearing in the UK there will be a very limited number (people with rich parents) who will be even be able to consider a "gap year". My nephews fall into that category, neither of them have managed to get a full time job since leaving school about 5 years ago. They would have loved to come out here on a WHV but have never had enough money to contemplate it.

 

Government training courses pay very little with no prospects of a real job at the end of them.

[Guest Kyoto]

Even planning to go travelling needs a certain amount of spare cash. There's passports, visas, backpacks, flights etc. to pay for upfront. If things are as bad as I keep hearing in the UK there will be a very limited number (people with rich parents) who will be even be able to consider a "gap year". My nephews fall into that category, neither of them have managed to get a full time job since leaving school about 5 years ago. They would have loved to come out here on a WHV but have never had enough money to contemplate it.

 

Government training courses pay very little with no prospects of a real job at the end of them.

 

This is an excellent point. It applies to many of my peers in America, and has been the case for several years now.

 

It takes about $5000 for a single, unencumbered person to make a go of it. Many of my fellow Americans only managed it because they sold their cars before hand, so they would have the money in hand. And I'm not sure how common it is in the UK for university graduates to have cars to sell (common in the US, but probably not in the UK?). I actually went to South Korea first, because Korean positions often pay for plane tickets and provide housing free of cost. Meaning, as long as you bring a few hundred dollars for groceries, you will make it to your first paycheck, and the cost of living is low enough the pay is quite good. I managed to raise enough money to pay off my student loans and establish the necessary funding to move to Japan, start building a career and save for my MA (which is finished, all but my final thesis paper). I'm only contemplating leaving for two reasons: economic realities in Japan due to population issues, and the fact I confirmed my cousin is moving back to Sydney around the same time I am planning to move, so unlike Japan, I'll actually not be alone.

[VERYSTORMY]

This is mixing two completely different areas. The WHV is designed for what it say on the tin. HOLIDAY with the chance, if available, to supplement the costs by working in Oz.

 

It is not a path to immigration.

 

Most employers that are short of skills are not going to be looking at this as a method of filling skills shortages.

 

Most of the WHV applicants are low on skills. They may have a degree, but that doesn't make them employable.

[Guest Kyoto]

Verystormy,

 

It is not intended to be a path to immigration. This does not mean it cannot be used as one. However, it requires a lot of planning, research, and contacts to make it so. This is what makes it different from the J-1. The J-1 (and most J visas) are strictly regulated in comparison to the WHV (either type) according to my research. In addition to the time it gets you in the US, it also prevents you from applying for other working visas for two years, and does not count towards the time needed for permanent residency or citizenship. So if you accept a J-1, then you have to plan for being able to only visit as a tourist for two years after that or applying for some other type of visa (like a student visa), and for your J-1 not to really count.

 

I'll be honest, I'm sure that if the economy stumbles even a bit in Oz, or there is something else which seems to be a negative effect of the WHV, the DIAC will no longer allow the WHV to be used for PR/citizenship. The fact that it does, right now, is a great for people in my situation, and one of the reasons I don't want to wait more than about a year and a half to go ahead and use it.

 

...I'm also looking at this from an American perspective. Our visa is a Work AND Holiday visa, as opposed to the UK which is Working Holiday visa. One might argue there is a difference in implication between the two, and if so, then in terms of the UK, your argument might be more relevant than mine is. I could find nothing which suggests it is illegal for a WHV holder to work most of the time, just that it isn't really the idea.

 

And if you're not spending some of your time on leisure in Australia, you're crazy anyway. No matter what visa you are on.

Edited August 30, 2012 by Kyoto