A MISSION in March to attract UK skilled automotive tradespeople to Western Australia has paid off with the venture successfully confirming one person with a further 240 registered and awaiting approval.

Although early days, Mr Moir considered the mission successful and was aware of other organisations – both inside and outside the automotive industry – considering similar overseas recruitment plans.

He also said the MTA WA was looking at recruiting skilled automotive technicians from India, which he regarded as a nation with highly qualified engineers in the automotive industry.

The UK recruitment drive instigated by the MTA WA was triggered by a lack of suitable automotive tradespeople, particularly in regional centres.

The MTA WA CEO, Steve Moir, said the needs of many automotive businesses was immediate but said that the results of migrating tradespeople should be visible within six months and show solid employment gains within 12 months.

He said that visa processing times and relocation logistics will determine the start times for new employees.

“The MTA WA is continuing to work with immigration specialists Perdaman Global Services to validate applications and provide participating members with a pool of pre-screened, visa-eligible candidates,” he said.

“The Association will leave no stone unturned in its attempt to assist members in navigating the current global skills shortage.

“Many valuable insights were gained from the mission, and the MTA WA looks forward to using this intelligence to inform future activities.”

The recruitment mission in March was instigated by the MTA WA to attract British and Irish skilled migrants to automotive vacancies in WA.

Mr Moir said that to maximise exposure in the UK, the MTA WA worked with the WA State Government to align the timings of the mission with a ministerial trade delegation to the UK and Ireland which focused on opportunities including tourism.

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The MTA WA said that the mission’s objectives were to:

• raise awareness of WA’s automotive industry’s demand for skilled professionals from the UK and Ireland;
• showcase WA and the lifestyle benefits it can offer;
• raise the profile of the MTA WA internationally; and
• encourage qualified jobseekers to register their interest on the newly developed autojobsaustralia.com website.

The MTA WA launched its ‘Say G’day to WA’ digital advertising campaign before the delegation left Australia.

“The campaign positioned WA as the ideal place to both live and work in the trade by highlighting the state’s economic and lifestyle benefits,” the MTA WA said in its statement before setting off on the mission.

“Launching in the middle of the UK and Ireland’s cold, miserable winter, the creative concept directly addressed a subconscious desire for warm weather by showcasing some of WA’s most iconic, blue-skied destinations.

“Following the campaign launch, the MTA WA delegation visited the UK and Ireland in February/March speaking with prospective migrants, hosting information sessions, generating media attention and establishing connections with local automotive recruitment agencies.

“The delegation also completed several joint activities with the state government including attending the UK’s largest job fair in Bristol and engaging with prospective migrants and the media at pub takeovers in London, Dublin and Edinburgh.”

Mr Moir said that the program to attract tradespeople included marketing the state and the employment opportunities in national UK publications and radio broadcasts including the BBC News, The Sunday Times and Good Morning Britain.

“Most critically, the mission has highlighted that international automotive workers are, in fact, interested in the opportunities available in Western Australia,” he said.

“This was reflected by the 16,241 visits to the autojobsaustralia.com website recorded over the mission’s three-week duration.”

He said that a decision by tradespeople and their families to relocate to the other side of the world “is not one that can be taken lightly.”

“For this reason, it is pleasing to see that prospective migrants are promptly acting on their interest to migrate,” he said.

“The MTA WA has built the foundations to enable skilled migrants to apply for members’ advertised positions which should lead to a continual flow of candidates for participating members to consider.”

By Neil Dowling