From: bws900@hemi.anu.edu.au (Bede Seymour)
Newsgroups: misc.jobs.contract
Subject: Re: Opportunities in Australia
Date: 6 Oct 1992 07:30:11 GMT
Organization: Australian National University
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: hemi.anu.edu.au

In article <1992Oct5.041434.8839@mailhost.ocs.mq.edu.au>, s8923098@macnab.mqcs.mq.oz.au (Josef WIDJAJA) writes:
|> In article <1992Sep29.104940.12142@muppet.bt.co.uk> arif@sooty.bt.co.uk writes:
|> |I hear that contracting in Australia is currently not advisable due to lack of
|> |jobs and deepening recession.
|> |
|> |Can anyone confirm/deny these views?
|> |
|> |Post responses to newsgroup.
|> 


Don't ring the alarm bells just yet.

Australia is not the only Western Country suffering from
"deepening recession".  California itself, the home of the Silicon
Valley, is supposed to be in deep recession according to the reports of
job-shedding from the Military and Space industries.  I read I think in
this newsgroup that unemployment in the USA is measured by survey!
Who has not heard of the unbelievable interest rates in Sweden.
And what of the UK - I read recently that people don't even talk of
unemployment anymore, as it has become an accepted fact of life.

Australians and the Australian media seem to think that this country has
no hope, but compared to the situation around the world, I think things
aren't going too badly.

Just today, there was a report in the national press that unemployment
is improving; advertised job vacancies rose by 3%.

I don't know if the people who have been responding to the above posting
have actually been looking for work themselves, but I am looking, and have
had firm job offers for two jobs in recent weeks.  One of these was a
3+3month contract.  This is not to mention the (wage) job that
I am in the process of leaving.  I am basically a UNIX Sysadmin.  And
there still seems to be more VAX Sysadmin jobs advertised than UNIX
Sysadmins.

If you are thinking of coming down to Australia, get a hold of a copy of
Tuesday's "Australian" Newspaper (a national newspaper, there must be
places you can get in capitals overseas).  The Tuesday edition of this
newspaper contains the bulk of computing jobs advertised in Australia.
Saturday's "Sydney Morning Herald" also isn't too bad, but contains jobs
only in the Sydney area.

On the other hand, I have no idea about working-visa requirements - I
am an Australian citizen so I can't advise there.

Of course it is always going to be easier for a home-based citizen to 
get work.

But I don't know how people can just write off the employment situation
in the computer industry here - the computer industry is probably
holding up better than any other industry, contracting is probably
holding up better than salaried jobs (doesn't contracting rise in a
recession) - maybe I'm just in a good skills area but I don't see myself
plunging on to the sword just yet.

-- 
___________________________________________________________________________
Bede Seymour                               e-mail:  Bede.Seymour@anu.edu.au
UNIX Unit,  CSC, Australian National University, Box 4, Canberra, ACT, 2601 
phone: +61-6-2495027                                     phax:+61-6-2473425  
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