Each week three hundred internationals step off the planes in Australian airports, in order to pursue a career within the Australian job market. This number is yet to increase since the re-introduction of a loophole for employers, which had previously been closed by the Labour government in 2013. Companies in mining, construction, IT and other industries will now be able to hire an unlimited number of foreign workers under the temporary sponsorship visa.

These new developments in the 457 policies force to question government’s pre-election intentions on creating more jobs for Australians. The Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said earlier last week that the potential influx of foreign labour was “not a substitute for Australian workers”, but rather a fundamental need for Australian businesses.

However, many large corporations do see foreign workers as a cheap resource and a way to cut their costs. They are happy to employ overseas professionals, as they bring a wealth of expertise, while being modest about their salary.

With countries such as India and China, ranking in the top spots on the list for the foreign labour suppliers (according to the latest Department of Immigration 457 visa quarterly report), Australia puts itself at a great risk of lowering the wage brackets for the local industry professionals.

According to statistics published by local authorities, the average salary in China is just over $7500AU per year and in India, around $16,000AU. These shocking numbers justify the overseas candidates’ willingness to work in an underpaid job in Australia, as they are still making more money than they would back home.

This poses a great problem on the local market and forces many Australian professionals to take up salary packages below their actual value in order to not be replaced by overseas candidates.

“When I started in IT recruitment fifteen years ago, an average software engineer’s rate was around $50 an hour. Nowadays it is still the same. I see this as a result of cheap labour imports from overseas,” – says David Sparrius, a co-owner of Milestone IT, a well-known IT recruitment agency.

Moreover, an oversupply in capabilities may lead to an unemployment rate increase within the local candidates. “There is not one single job opening in IT, that I could not fill with someone who is already in Australia,” says Mr Sparrius. Much of the statistical data used by government agencies is usually about two years old and in a fast-evolving economy could be considered quite out-dated. “The fact that we might have needed IT professionals in Australia 2 years ago, does not mean that we need them now,” says Miles Tran, a co-owner of a well known recruitment agency.