Over 600,000 migrants are working below their skill level, according to a by Settlement Services International.
“44 per cent of migrants are underutilised in Australia, and that’s a really big lost opportunity when a third of all our occupations across the nation are in shortage," said Lily Jiang, SSI's Activate Australia Skills campaign manager.
“From the stories that we see and a lot of the data that we see, they end up in a lot of cleaning jobs, hospitality roles, a lot of non-permanent work like rideshare driving, taxi driving, those kinds of roles.”
According to SSI, if migrant workers had employment that matched their skill set at the same rate as Australian-born workers, $70 billion of economic activity would be generated over ten years.
This episode of SBS Examines asks why migrants are struggling to find work in line with their qualifications, amidst a skills shortage — and what the cost is to Australia.
With additional reporting by SBS Mandarin.
