An influx of working holiday visa holders expected to ease staff shortages

The move should ease pressures on understaffed industries struggling to recruit following the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020-2021, like sales, hospitality and tourism.

Melbourne hospitality professional Stephen Maiolo said he was relieved to see his staff base growing with talented workers.

"The new backpacker employees are so keen to work, they're picking up five or six shifts per week," he said.

Despite the recent spike in backpacker arrivals, Australia is welcoming far fewer entrants than we did prior to the lockdowns.

In the 2018-2019 period, Australia saw 49,100 working holiday visa arrivals, which dipped to 1000 entries during 2020-2021, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The period just passed, 2021-2022, has seen a return of 13,000 working holiday visa holders, said the ABS.

Many industries relying on unskilled, travelling labour felt the loss of backpackers during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

"It's so great to have extra support when so many of us are getting sick or going away," Mr Maiolo said.

"It has been so hard, in the past few years, to keep a full roster of staff."

A steep drop in job ads listed on SEEK in November 2022 may indicate that pressure is easing on key industries.

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Government and defence job ads, as well as insurance and superannuation, saw a small bump in quantity while all other sectors scaled back job ads during late 2022, according to SEEK.

Advertising for jobs in hospitality and tourism fell 13.5 per cent in November when compared to advertising in October.

Managing Director SEEK ANZ Kendra Banks said job advertising has been competitive this year, with skills shortages felt almost across the board.

"The traditional peaks and troughs we expect throughout the year have been superseded by unprecedented demand across the board," she said in a statement from the ABS.

The Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) are advocating to change the current working holiday visa application cut-off age from 35 to 50 years old to encourage skilled workers to visit Australia.

TTF Australia chief executive Margy Osmond told ABC Radio "it opens up to a marketplace of people who have different skills."

Cost-of-living pressures have made it more difficult for backpackers to holiday in Australia.

One of Australia's most prominent hostel chains, Youth Hostels Association (YHA), shuttered a number of sites over the lockdowns.

"We've seen a reduction in capacity across the wider hostel market, in some areas over half of properties have gone," YHA Australia's chief executive Paul McGrath said to the Guardian.

"There is huge pressure to make enough money to live here," said Mr Maiolo.

"A lot of our backpacker workers are struggling to find accommodation and afford rent."