I've been reading this thread with great interest and worry. One thing I have learned from the same situation in other industries is that most employers these days are only interested in one thing.. profits. If there was a bus load of suitable candidates camped outside the likes of J* and Qlink begging for work, they would be completely ignored if the mgt could get overseas bodies for half the price. As one poster put it, J* came to the UK and were NOT INTERESTED in expats. Whilst I admire the spirit of those that promote the "Aussie jobs for Aussies" view AND those that have the drive and determination to get out of a sh*t hole country for a better life, the employers neither admire, nor care about
either. They will use ANY method to get the cheapest path to the greatest profits and the cheapo airlines have woken up to the fact that they can acomplish this by using overseas labour.
This is EXACTLY what has happened in the IT industry here. Try to get a start in IT as a young guy or girl fresh trained in Aus and they soon find out that employers have shipped all the startup, first jobs to India. Its not the indians fault, nor is it the young'ins fault. It is the employer going for bigger profits with lower overheads. The Scabs here are the airlines carrying out this practice and the govt for supporting it. These are the folk we should be emailing and calling.
