America’s loss could be Australia’s gain
As I sit on the bus at Sydney Airport with 18 other travellers bound for a 14 day quarantine, a surly police officer slowly walks down the middle aisle. Having recently returned from America during a time of intense police scrutiny the sight of him instantly makes me uncomfortable. I twist and turn in my seat. Suddenly I see a smile emerge, “welcome home!” he pronounces. In that moment, the haze of the 37 hour journey from Austin was forgotten. I was finally home!
Writing this from the purgatory that is hotel quarantine in Sydney I am excited to restart my life in Australia. Until a few weeks ago I had planned to stay in the US. However Trump’s recent ‘America First’ immigration policies and decision to furlough 75% of the government department processing my visa made my decision for me.
Most recently The Donald signed an executive order suspending the processing of H and L class visas. His order prevents well over 100k sponsored workers from entering the US. H-1B workers in particular are a critical artery supporting the US tech industry. Unsurprisingly this has been met with a fierce backlash by many business groups, which has already led to the administration fielding several legal challenges.
Herein I believe lies the opportunity for Australia and its burgeoning tech scene. And burgeoning it is… While living in America I would continually hear and speak to colleagues about recent Australian success stories like Canva, Afterpay and the continued dominance of Atlassian. These trailblazing unicorns have laid the foundations for Australia to become a serious player in the world tech scene. For years many industries have been held back by our small market size, geographical isolation, infrastructure and skill shortages. However recent events have addressed large parts of these concerns.
Market Size
There has been a notion that Australia’s small market size makes starting a local business with international ambitions significantly more challenging. While this does inevitably mean a smaller initial TAM (Total Addressable Market) the trailblazers mentioned above have set a much needed precedence that should embolden startups. They have proven that businesses can be incubated locally and then, when ready, rapidly gain market share abroad.
Geographic Isolation
The pandemic has forced organisations to move to remote work structures that have consequently proven that our isolation is no longer a pressing concern. Surprisingly for some it has shown that orgs can still function remotely, with many even thriving! This will undeniably only hasten the trend of distributed and remote teams, especially as companies reap the cost savings and talent pool benefits.
Infrastructure
On the infrastructure front Australia’s slow internet speeds and broadband throughput were always an achilles heel. However with the National Broadband Network (NBN) rolled out our broadband speeds are finally up to a respectable level.
Skill Shortage
That leaves one final hurdle, our much maligned skill shortage. From across the whole STEM spectrum there are shortages and have been for years which has been reflected in decades of immigration policies. This is the part where Trumpy has given us a golden opportunity. His recent policies ensure there is a pool of talented and willing workers more than capable of filling our skill shortfalls.
And what better way to kickstart our economy than by welcoming a new wave of highly skilled immigrants? This romantic and seemingly fitting strategy, given we were once referred to as a ‘nation of immigrants’, would help restructure and rebalance our economy. An economy that is still far too heavily reliant on fossil fuels and resource exports. These new arrivals could work on the next killer app, the Covid vaccine or sustainable energy innovations. All the while sharing their knowledge and upskilling our existing workforce.
After living in America I don’t think selling Australia would be too difficult. Americans’ treatment of foreign workers or ‘legal aliens’ as they prefer, doesn’t set a high bar. Combine that with Australia’s new image of being a Covid safe haven will ensure no need to recall Lara Bingle for a second marketing campaign.
Clearly this strategy would require that we first get a handle on the second wave and develop a process to accept skilled workers without jeopardising the safety of our communities. But after my positive experience through Sydney’s quarantine I am certain we can.
Either way we are entering an unprecedented downturn and period economic turmoil. Maybe this isn’t the panacea for the economy I envision it to be (I’m just about as unqualified a schmuck as could be to write about national policy). But if we really want a means to get out of this situation as best we can we need to foster a national dialogue and an environment where all ideas are on the table.
Don’t be a stranger:
gppollak@gmail.com