‘Slightly discriminatory’: Temporary visa holders struggle to find work despite qualifications

August Wang thought she would be able to return to Australia once she received her temporary graduate visa, but she then had found it near impossible to secure work Down Under, forcing her to delay her plans.

According to the Graduate Outcomes Survey 2022, over 89 per cent Australian postgraduates got a full-time job within six months after graduation while only 57.9 per cent international postgraduates did. Source: Getty / Runstudio

Key points:

• The Australian graduate employment rates hit the highest levels while the gap between local and international graduates still exists.
• An Australian employer said visa status was an important factor influencing his hiring decision.
• Lack of local work experience and workplace contacts are disadvantages faced by overseas job seekers.

Last December, Shanghai resident, August Wang, finally heard the exciting news that her temporary graduate visa (subclass 485) had been granted, which she said she thought “was an opportunity” for change.

Before returning to China in July 2021 after graduation, she was a master’s student at the University of Melbourne.

Due to the spiralling cost of living in Australia, Ms Wang said she decided to find a job through online interviews before returning Down Under.

However, after submitting hundreds of resumes and doing dozens of interviews, she said she still ended up failing in the final round despite the fact that she speaks English well.

Eighty per cent of the rejection reasons would include my working rights in Australia. I'm not a permanent resident (PR), so they reject me.

August Wang

"Sometimes you just get frustrated that I'm even though I’m more suitable and qualified for a particular position, I don’t get it," she told SBS.

According to the Graduate Outcomes Survey (GOS) 2022 released in February, the full-time employment rate of local postgraduate students is 89.4 per cent, compared with just 57.9 per cent for international students.

The employment rates of Australian undergraduate graduates and international undergraduate graduates from 2019 to 2022. Credit: 2022 Graduate Outcome Survey

Visa Status: “A Very Important Consideration”

The owner of an architectural company in Melbourne, Siqi Liu, admitted that an interviewee's visa status was "a very important consideration" for him.

"It can account for 60 to 70 per cent [of the interview result] ...for a company, the stability of the employee may even outweigh the ability of the employee," Mr Liu told SBS Chinese.

"It's very difficult if someone's visa is unstable. They can work this year but don't know where they'll be next year."

Last month, the Department of Education announced a two-year extension for 485 visa holders in some professions, with eligible postgraduate students allowed to stay in Australia for five years and PhD graduates for six years.

Mr Liu said he believed the policy had a "very positive impact" on him as it had allowed him to map out a better career plan for his employees.

Three of Siqi Liu's employees are 485 visa holders. Credit: Supplied by Siqi Liu

However, international students are still disadvantaged in the job search due to many vacancies being reserved for permanent residents or citizens of Australia.

Sydney career coach, Haocheng Yu, argued that this exclusion of international students from jobs was "slightly discriminatory" and limited their job options.

"There's no way they [international students] can go and compete for the same 10,000 jobs as locals, they may only be able to compete for the jobs that don't require permanent residence or citizenship," he said.

Job applications open only to permanent residents or citizens of Australia. Credit: Screenshot from Seek

Due to the labour shortage during the pandemic, some job postings only required the applicants to have working rights in Australia but Mr Yu said he believed the change had been a "last resort".

Essentially, the company is not changing its hiring policy because it realises that cultural diversity can bring greater value to the company ...It's because it failed to recruit local people, so it has to loosen that policy.

Career coach Haocheng Yu

The employment rate of Chinese graduates in Australia (56.7 per cent) was slightly lower than international graduates average rate (57.9 per cent). Credit: 2022 Graduate Outcome Survey

The dilemma for offshore job seekers

In addition to holding a temporary visa, Ms Wang believes that being offshore has also caused her to be rejected in the final round of interviews.

"It's quite difficult to find a job [in Australia] if you're in China because they [employers] may be concerned about the security issues and whether you could start to work on time," she said.

According to the 2022 GOS, the employment rate for international graduates living in Australia is 79.7 per cent, compared to 68.6 per cent for those who are overseas.

Ms Wang told SBS Chinese that she would not reveal to the interviewer that she was offshore.

"It's actually quite a pity if you miss an opportunity just because you're overseas," Ms Wang said.

Credit: Supplied by August Wang

But Mr Liu said he would not turn away job seekers just because they were outside the country.

"As long as you are willing to start and you are eligible, I am happy with that. I just don't have a way to find 485 visa holders in China," he said.

This February, the Australian Department of Education stated that the “graduate employment rates hit the highest levels in more than a decade”.

The full-time employment rate of local Australian graduates reached 78.5 per cent, up nearly 10 per cent from last year while the rate for their international counterparts rose from 43 per cent in 2021 to 57.7 per cent in 2022, still lagging behind the Australian graduate figure.

Mr Yu said he believed the lack of Australian work experience and contacts in the workplace often put overseas job seekers at a competitive disadvantage.

"How to transfer the local work experience into the ability to be recognised by Australian employers is the most challenging part of the job search for some overseas applicants,” he said.

"They probably haven't been to the country and have zero workplace contacts.”

Sydney-based Haocheng Yu is a full-time career coach who focuses on providing career guidance and career planning to job seekers. Credit: Supplied by Haocheng Yu

Australian employers: a difficulty in the future

Compared with last year when Mr Liu said he hardly found anyone to work, this year, “recruiting has been easy”. But re-capped working hours for student visa holders had left him in a difficult position, he said.

Last month, the Australian government announced that work restrictions for international students will be reintroduced and capped at 48 hours per fortnight from 1 July.

Mr Liu told SBS Chinese that he had six or seven employees on student visas, some of whom were "essential employees". The new rule meant he may need to recruit more staff to make up for the reduced workforce, he said.

Earlier, to alleviate Australia's labour shortage, the Australian government removed the 40 hours a fornight working hours limitation for student visa holders from January 2022 until June 30, 2023.

A spokesperson from the Department of Home Affairs told SBS Chinese that they considered “…48 hours a fortnight as an appropriate balance between work and study, acknowledging that study is the primary purpose of the Student Visa.”

“This modest increase [compare with 40 hours a fortnight before COVID-19] will help students to gain valuable work experience and contribute to Australia’s workforce needs while they study,” the spokesperson said.

Mr Liu said: "Recruiting can be costly, and it takes twice as much time and money when training a new team."

"Besides throwing a lot of money into it, I haven't thought of a good way to solve this problem yet.”