A PERTH recruitment agency has secured federal government approval to ‘employ’ overseas workers on temporary 457 visas.
ChoiceOne has been awarded a work agreement for a subclass 457 visa, which allows it to sponsor workers and then on-hire their services to other companies.
Such on-hire labour agreements became a requirement for recruitment agencies in 2007 when regulations revoked their ability to hire 457 visa-holders directly.
Under the regulations, on-hiring companies need to commit funds to training and development, prove their prioritisation on Australian workers, and have more responsibility for the overseas workers – such as funding the return flight to their home country.
Workforce Solutions, a recruitment agency based in Brisbane and with offices in Perth, was the first recruitment agency to secure an on-hire labour agreement shortly after the changes came into force in 2007.
ChoiceOne chief executive Marg Van Heurck said the business had been negotiating with the federal government for 18 months before its work agreement was approved last week, but said it had come at a good time.
“With current Chamber of Commerce and Industry research showing Western Australia alone will need approximately 500,000 extra workers over the next decade, the new agreement could not come at a better time,” she said.
“This is a unique opportunity for a recruitment company to directly address the skills shortage by on-hiring sponsored 457 employees to businesses who need skilled staff.”
The agreement allows ChoiceOne to recruit staff to cover all its divisions, including healthcare, trades and information technology.
A number of WA recruitment agencies that employ people specifically for the resources industry have also been successful in securing similar work agreements – allowing them to address the growing skills shortage in that industry.
Perth-based Tescide Personnel was awarded an agreement in 2009, while global recruiter OWI Group, which established a base in Perth to provide workers for large-scale resource projects in the state, secured its labour agreement in May last year.
Other Perth-based recruiters, Bond Personnel and Crest Personnel, have also successfully secured the agreements.
ChoiceOne’s Ms Van Heurck said the agreement would reduce the amount of time it would take to source temporary workers from overseas.
“We can now proactively identify suitable candidates to bring into the Australian marketplace and fast-track their arrival through streamlined processes to provide businesses with pre-qualified team members,” she said.
