7 Nov 2012

Eastern workers not keen to go to WA

2:53 pm on 7 November 2012

Companies in Western Australia are having a hard time enticing workers from eastern states, leaving them with little alternative but to use foreign workers.

Researchers at Edith Cowan University, Perth, have found that skilled workers in eastern states view a move west as akin to relocating overseas, with the cost of living, social isolation and remote job locations compounding reasons why they're staying put.

AAP reports the researchers were curious why companies were using visas to import people from overseas at a time when the federal government was offering cash incentives to entice workers to cross the Nullarbor.

"Participants indicated that they had encountered reluctance from Australian recruits about relocating to WA," said project leader Susanne Bahn.

"Moving away from family and friends, the fly-in-fly-out working arrangements, a lack of social infrastructure and accommodation with reasonable rents and the perceived high cost of living were the main reasons."

As a result, companies were left with little alternative other than to plug recruitment gaps with migrant workers, Dr Bahn said.

AAP reports the study also found there was a lack of 'work ready' university graduates domestically.