More Filipinos leave for work in labor-deficient Australia

By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 16:57:00 01/23/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- More Filipinos are going to Australia on work visa than family visa, outgoing Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Tony Hely said.

In the last two years, Australia’s “structural shortage” in workforce and the Philippines “skills abundance” led to the shift in migration pattern of Filipinos, Hely said in an interview with reporters Wednesday.

Although he couldn't give exact figures, he said the number of skilled Filipino workers who went to work in Australia last year rose by 136 percent over 2006 figures.

“The Philippines is now the strongest source of skilled migration because of the structural skills shortages in Australia and the skills abundance in the Philippines,” he said.

Hely said Australian companies prefer Filipino workers not only because they speak English well, but also because they are known to be hardworking and can adapt to different cultures.

Australia is in need of welders, carpenters, masons, and other types of construction workers.

Meanwhile, the ambassador said Australia's priority development projects in the Philippines will focus on promoting peace and development in Mindanao .

“Peace and development in Mindanao is still a work in progress. But we believe that the Philippine government has done a good job in this aspect,” said Hely.

Australia ’s development strategy released last year noted that the continued threats to peace and security due to Islamic rebellion and communist insurgency pose serious constraints to economic growth in the Philippines.

It noted that the presence of transnational terrorist groups like the Jemaah Islamiyah in Mindanao complicates the country's internal security challenges.