Australia’s migrant population is increasing. In 2011, Migrants made up 26 per cent of the Australian Population*. Skilled migrants however still remain a largely untapped pool of talent for employers.

Although many migrants are not only highly skilled and have great work ethics they are quite often passed over by employers due to concerns about language barriers and cultural differences. Once taught to communicate more effectively and understand the Australian work culture, these workers have potential to become stars within our workforce.

Teaching these skills though can be very time consuming for a business.
Fortunately there are now training programs that are specifically designed to train skilled migrants on the Australian work culture and business communication.
Holmesglen in Victoria runs one such program.

Holmesglen’s intensive skilled migrants program improves on the migrant’s written and verbal skills as well as their ability to operate effectively and feel comfortable within our work culture. It has been designed to be a hands-on course. The results to date for employers have been very encouraging.

Current course graduates have skills in either:
Accounting,
Engineering
Sales & marketing or
IT

Once graduated, MACRO places Holmesglen’s’ graduates on a 4-6 week placement with employers. These employers are not liable for any payroll liabilities during the trial.
This is a perfect opportunity for businesses to try out a skilled migrant without any financial outlay.

Should the employer then decide to take on the graduate permanently, MACRO applies a small nominal recruitment fee.
Programs such as these reduce the risk for employers to accept skilled migrants into their company.