Skilled migration stage 3 interim report

The rail industry has identified key workforce risks and workforce development strategies (ARA 2007, 2008). The Skilled Migration project has been funded to research one of these workforce development: skilled migration as a medium to long term strategy for meeting skill shortages, particularly for highly skilled labour. This report is the second of four reports that will be produced from this project. The Skilled Migration Forum Report addressed the first two stages of the project and had a strong focus on the outcomes of the Skilled Migration Forum conducted in late 2009. This report represents stage 3 of the project, the literature review. The report provides a thematic analysis of the research and literature on skill shortages and skilled migration as it pertains to the rail industry. The report has been structured so as to provide the rail industry with a flexible and customised approach to utilising and adopting the content of the literature review. This has been achieved through structuring the literature review on the six themes that emerged. The six themes have provided the organising principle for the report. Each theme is dealt with separately (Sections 2-7) and as such, can combine to make a whole or each section can be utilised as a separate stand alone mini-review. It is hoped this structure will allow the rail industry to make greater use of the review to inform workforce development decisions and initiatives. The six themes which emerged are as follows: • Rail industry workforce issues • Skill shortages in general • Historical context of skilled migration in Australia • Contemporary policy (skilled migration and skill shortages) • Current research in skilled migration • Rail engineering skill shortages