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Australia has boosted its number of skilled workers in its labour force by 78,000 already this year. This has been achieved by immigration policies put in place by the Australian Government, to solve the country's current skills shortage in its domestic labour force.
"The government has responded to the shortages by bringing record numbers of skilled immigrants to the country. The Australian Government has made over 97,500 Skilled Visas available for 2005-2006," said Amanda Vandstone, Australia's Immigration Minister.
A study by IBM reveals the city of London will become a magnet for talent from the US and Eastern Europe as it cements its reputation as the cosmopolitan capital of commerce.
The trend will emerge by 2015 as restrictive regulations in the US drive companies and executives to London, while the UK's hedge funds draw skilled mathematicians and actuaries from Eastern Europe.
When the US senate failed to agree upon changes to US immigration laws concerning illegal immigrants and border control, these were not the only issues left pending. The questions of how to clear the backlog of green cards, and increasing the cap were left unanswered.
The average waiting period to get a green card is six years or longer and currently there are over half a million applications pending, according to Immigration Voice, an advocacy group that tracks US government data.
Canberra, the national capital of Australia, is experiencing a running shortfall of skilled workers in health care, trades, construction and the sciences, and the problem is expected to worsen before it improves.
Canada is experiencing a 32 year low in unemployment. There are now labour shortfalls occuring in certain sectors. The construction industry is suffering huge skilled labour shortages, especially in the province of British Columbia.
With Vancouver hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics, employers are desperately searching for construction workers, and companies in the industry are booked more than a year in advance.
