“The latest official data shows job vacancies are still almost one-half higher than pre-pandemic levels, despite record mass migration influx, which suggests migrants are not filling the jobs that Australian businesses need,” said Saxon Davidson, Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.
Today, new Job Vacancies data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the month of May 2026 revealed that 329,500 jobs remain unfilled, decreasing by only 2.1 per cent from February 2026. The data also showed:
- Job vacancies are 45 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels.
- Job vacancies have remained above 325,000 for five years straight.
- The continued elevated level of worker shortages in skilled work reveals the complete failure of the Albanese government’s migration program:
- Worker shortages in the healthcare and social assistance sector are 90 per cent higher than what they were before the pandemic.
- Worker shortages in the manufacturing sector are 78 per cent higher than what they were before the pandemic.
- Worker shortages in the electricity, gas, water and waste services sector are 76 per cent higher than what they were before the pandemic.
- Worker shortages in the mining sector are 58 per cent higher than what they were before the pandemic.
“For nearly four years, the Albanese government has used Australia’s worker shortage crisis to justify its record, out-of-control migration intake. Today’s data again reinforces that this approach has failed.”
“Mass migration isn’t just unpopular with Australians, it has failed to provide the workers that Australian businesses need at this time,” Mr Davidson said.
IPA research has found that one approach to reduce worker shortages is to adopt the New Zealand pension tax model and apply it for our pensioners, veterans, and students.
Australian pensioners and veterans face an effective marginal tax rate of 66 per cent should they earn over $226 per week, with students facing a rate of 76 per cent should they earn over $288.
In New Zealand, pensioners who choose to work pay tax on their combined pension and income at a tax rate as low as 10.5 per cent, and their pension is not reduced for simply working. This is why a quarter of pensioners work in New Zealand, compared to just three per cent in Australia.
“Rather than continue to rely on the lazy policy option of out-of-control migration, the federal government must implement genuine reforms to fix worker shortages by removing unfair barriers to employment that prevent willing Australians from working,” Mr Davidson said.
To download the IPA’s previous research click here.
