Facts and Figures: Working Holidaymakers Down Under

January 28, 2010 at 4:41 pm · Filed under Culture, Jobs, Money, Visas and tagged: australia, british, earnings, employment, french, germans, holiday, koreans, minimum wage, positive, report, visa, wages, work, working holiday visa

In 2009, the Australian Government released a report that explored trends and experiences of Working Holidaymakers (WHMs) in 2008.

The full report is 116 pages long, so I’ve just picked out some of the interesting numbers and findings to mention.  Overall, the program was found to have a positive impact on WHMs opinions of Australia, employment and tourism.

Most WHMs worked in agriculture.

• 80% of those surveyed were from Korea, Germany, UK, France, Japan, Canada, Netherlands, Italy.
• more than half of those surveyed had university degrees.
• 79% said their WH helped them understand Australia.
• the positive impression were formed by ‘landscape and nature’, ‘friendly people’ and ‘quality of life’.
• 95% would recommend the program to their friends.
• the main 3 employment industries were agriculture, accommodation, and cafe/restaurant/takeaway food services.
• the number one reason for obtaining a WHV was ‘to travel around Australia.
• the average length of stay was 8 months.
• the top 3 ways to find employment were:  approach employer directly, job agency and friends/family.
• the mean wage was from $15-$19 per hour (the 2008 minimum wage was $13.74)
• the highest mean earnings were in the state of New South Wales.
• WHMs spent most of their money on accommodation, tourism and tuition.

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