While analysts still see strong economic reason to continue the inward flow of workers to Australia, the government is rethinking its policies regarding skilled migrants as the nation’s jobless rates rises. As reported in The International Herald Tribune, Australia’s Labor government has said that it would review its migrant intake, and the immigration minister, Chris Evans, has said that cuts would be modest at first but will continue to take into account any changes in public opinion.

The global economic downturn could be a rare opening for Australian businesses to attract top talent and fix skill shortages that have been a longstanding national issue. Stephen Roberts, an economist at Nomura, commented:

There's going to be an extraordinary pool of experienced people looking for work and a real chance for Australia to fill gaps in sectors like health and engineering, which are crying out for them.