Half of skilled migrant engineers not employed as engineers: research

Engineers Australia says that tens of thousands of qualified, skilled migrant engineers are missing out on engineering work in Australia.

Only 50% of qualified engineers born overseas currently working in Australia are working as engineers — a reality that is impacting the nation’s ability to address the national infrastructure deficit and generate economic growth.

The latest figures on employment in the engineering sector come as Engineers Australia, the national peak body for the profession, hailed a breakthrough agreement with the Northern Territory Government to get more overseas-born engineers into work in the Territory, welcoming it as a template for other jurisdictions to follow.

The Global Engineering Talent (GET) program is an outcome of Engineers Australia’s ‘Barriers to employment for skilled migrant engineers’ research, which found 47% of migrant engineers actively seeking an engineering job are not working in the profession.

The Northern Territory Government has contributed to the program to help an initial 20 overseas-born engineers with a pathway to engineering employment in Australia.

In addressing the key findings of the research, the GET program will include a six-week preparatory course through Engineering Education Australia with engineering standards-specific training, and a 12-week paid internship at an engineering firm. Commenting on the GET program, Engineering Australia CEO Romilly Madew AO said that all states and territories should consider such initiatives.

“An army of well over 100,000 qualified, skilled engineers are currently in Australia, driving Ubers or doing some other kind of work that is not related to engineering. This is an emerging national disaster,” she said. “Australia’s skills crisis will get worse until this deep pool of unutilised labour is tapped.”

The latest employment figures for engineers in Australia show that:

• Over 60% of qualified engineers in Australia were born overseas;
• Overseas-born engineers are more likely than their Australian-born counterparts to be underemployed or unemployed;
• There are 135,759 engineers working in engineering in Australia that were born overseas;
• There are 268,595 engineers in the labour force born overseas;
• Only 50% of qualified engineers born overseas (in the labour force) work in engineering;
• According to research conducted by Engineers Australia, companies have both conscious and unconscious biases towards hiring migrant engineers;
• Australia’s engineering vacancies were up 80% from January 2021 to December 2022;
• Hiring migrant engineers would lessen the current skills challenges facing employers.
   

“A lack of skilled engineers is a problem facing major projects right across Australia,” Madew said. “The Northern Territory Government pilot program will facilitate Australian employers having access to prepared, experienced and motivated engineers, looking to contribute to the Australian economy. Every state and territory should consider this type of initiative.”

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