GUEST COMMENT: Why the City loves Antipodeans
I am told one of the hot issues for the Australian election has been immigration and emigration: the flood of what are termed 'boat people' arriving in boats from Asia, and the exodus of talent searching new careers in Europe and the US.
In London, it's a different immigrant story, less Asian, more Antipodean: Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans are welcomed across the City's financial institutions for temp and perm roles.
Why?
We hear lots of different reasons.
Antipodeans are technically strong - they have recognised qualifications from CA to CPA, backed up by university accountancy degrees. Meanwhile British ACAs do not need to take accounting at school or university, so they do not necessarily always understand what goes into a balance sheet i.e. what a debit is and what a credit is.
We are told Antipodeans work hard and are naturally, 'can do.' Antipodeans will take jobs when local talent is picky. British employees see temp work as a stop gap: if the right perm job comes along the temp job gets dropped without notice and the client is let down.
As temps, Antipodeans pick things up quickly, and as strong communicators they integrate well within teams.
Antipodeans think differently about their careers. If they are here for a short period of time they want to earn as much as they can - money wise and in terms of experience.
If they stay, they work hard to succeed in a new environment.
Ironically, the visa situation and time off to travel is a positive for clients wanting temps. They get commitment to a temp assignment which local candidates usually don't want, plus a willingness to work long hours because Antipodeans need money to travel. If the client needs a temp to get a project sorted or a backlog cleared, this means it gets done quicker - it's a win/win.
All of this has made Antipodean candidates pretty irresistible in London. At Poolia we often identify potential temporary assignments for candidates before they have even landed on our shores.
If Sydney is turning Asian, then the City of London is definitely becoming even more Antipodean. So why is the UK government trying to restrict their entry?
