It Is Time To Look After Ourselves And Our Kids Now....

"Science & Technology- Let's create jobs for us first"

When a student needs work experience, or when a graduate needs an internship or a new job, they are most likely going to call on friends or contacts to assist them with that opportunity to start.

If most tech work is off-shored by the banks, telcos and many other large Australian firms, they are sending the signal to the employment market that those jobs are not required to be fulfilled by local talent. What chances are there for new entry positions being available to our students and new graduates?

One of the solutions is for companies to stop, or seriously slow down the off-shoring of our science and technology work.

But there is more to it than that. Many of our youth are not choosing to study STEM subjects (Science, computer and information technology science, etc). The main reason is that there are few opportunities and available work to Australians as those entry jobs have been off-shored to low cost economies.

Now teachers of STEM subjects are in short supply and Australia needs more qualified teachers in these subjects to encourage our students to take up science and maths subjects to avoid the lack of participation. Having more and better trained teachers would produce and encourage skills in science and maths and more of chance for students continuing these subjects into the higher education system, therefore keeping our talent here to establish a thriving technologically advanced country (1).

It seems that everything points to the fact that the demand and opportunities for workers continues to be given to overseas work forces, hence the supply has been reduced and those left looking for opportunities can't find a job.

Who are we to think that we can run the country off-shoring all the tech work? Did you know that USA's top 10 richest people are all in technology? This compares to our 10 top richest people who are in property or mining! Our future is being mortgaged to foreign low cost economies.

This year an announcement was made that the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa 457, is to be abolished and replaced with a new visa called the Temporary Skill Shortage Visa by March 2018 (2,3). This recent attempt by the government to limit access to 457 visas is a step in the right direction. Let us look after our future first and then the rest of the world.

	We need to become a country of innovators. Other countries such as the USA, Japan, South Korea, Finland, France and Canada to name a few are surging ahead. The only way forward is to create a pool of talent and innovation in our own country.
	Company directors, managers, educators, i.e. parents and grandparents, have a responsibility of creating jobs for the future where innovation can take us forward with superior productivity and to keep our high standard of living. Time for action..... Marco Tapia www.PicNet.com.au

References & further reading:

1. https://www.itnews.com.au/news/australia-has-a-stem-decay-curve-465567

2. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/04/19/concerns-457-visa-changes-will-create-guest-worker-system

3. https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2017/06/coalitions-fake-457-visa-changes-watered/

4. Image STEM: http://splash.abc.net.au/newsandarticles/blog/-/b/2054678/contact-us

It is time to look after ourselves and our kids now....