Australian Power Company wants skilled UK immigrants

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An Australian power company is seeking UK workers to overcome skills shortages, the BBC reports.

ETSA Utilities, a company based in the state of South Australia, has placed an advertisement in Britain's Sun newspaper looking for maintenance workers for its electricity grid. It also plans to hold information events in major centres in England and Scotland and is advertising in other Countries.

Explaining the overseas recruitment drive, a spokesman for ETSA said that due to deregulation and privatisation not enough power line workers are being trained in Australia. He added that because of the time it takes to complete the apprenticeship and on the job training it can take up to eight years to train a new worker.

Australia gives priority in its immigration program to skilled migrants. Nurses and accountants are some of the other professions in demand. Last year 110,000 migrants arrived in Australia, with the UK being the biggest immigrant source country.