Marrin-Boyd Andrews (MBA) AI Enablement Consultant

We are seeing an increasing number of offshore candidates reaching out about opportunities in Australia. Here’s what we are advising them: 🔵 Sponsorship visas remain challenging with our corporate clients. The clients we work with who are open to sponsorship typically have specific requirements: A. They have a larger strategy team and are willing to wait for visa processing before you can start. They can carry the load in the meantime and are constantly pipelining talent to backfill those who move into the business. These companies usually only make the effort to sponsor offshore talent who have a top tier consulting pedigree. B. They need candidates with deep expertise in a sector or skill that is not widely available locally. Again, this is most often top tier talent from McKinsey, Bain or BCG. 🔵 The good news. Consulting clients are coming to us thick and fast to build their teams up, mostly at the Manager levels. This is the most likely way to secure an opportunity in Australia with the offer of sponsorship at the moment. 🔵 Visa processing is improving. Times have significantly decreased with a new type of visa being introduced. Even so, employers must have a compelling reason to sponsor and wait for a candidate. 🔵 Competition is strong. The local talent market is highly competitive, with a strong pool of senior candidates actively looking. This makes it particularly difficult for Associate Partner and Partner level candidates seeking to relocate. 🔵 Junior candidates face more barriers. Many firms have policies against sponsoring candidates with less than 3 years of consulting experience. However, we are having success with more junior consultants arriving on a working holiday visa, especially if they have an MBB background. Rachel Quick is placing them into contracts so clients can “try before they buy”, and this often leads to sponsorship. 🔵 We also speak regularly with MBB candidates applying from overseas who are open to multiple locations. Our key question to them is: What are you optimising for? If the answer is compensation, Australia may not be the right fit given exchange rates, high tax and cost of living. Other markets, such as tax free or lower cost regions, often provide stronger financial incentives. If the answer is career acceleration, it is important to assess why Australia, as other countries may provide a faster trajectory. If the answer is lifestyle, then Australia can be an excellent choice. 🔵 Ultimately. Relocating here requires both strong personal motivation for Australia specifically and a compelling value proposition for employers. #strategyjobs #MBB

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Why is the employee coverage of the Fair Work system different depending on which State or Territory an employee is employed in? Time for a quick lesson in Constitutional law! The Fair Work Act 2009 created a national industrial relations system for most Australian workers. But under the federal system of government we have in Australia, the Commonwealth can only make laws in relation to those topics and issues that the Commonwealth Constitution says it can. Everything else is for the States to makes laws about. In fact, if the Commonwealth made a law about something that is reserved for the States to regulate, the Commonwealth law would be "unconstitutional" and could be struck down by the High Court. However, a State can decide to refer a power to make laws about something that it holds to the Commonwealth - basically where a State says "we normally make laws about this but you, the Commonwealth, can do that now". So, the legal source of the ability to make laws in relation to the various topics and issues presently covered by the Fair Work Act is a combination of powers reserved to the Commonwealth in the Commonwealth Constitution (eg. corporations power) and State powers referred to the Commonwealth. For example, in 2009, the Queensland government referred its power to regulate private sector industrial relations to the Commonwealth government. But Queensland retained the power to make laws for public sector and local government workplaces. Those sectors are regulated by the Qld Industrial Relations Act. Contrast that with Victoria, where most employees are covered by the Fair Work system, including State government employees, with some exceptions such as senior public servants. So, now you know why employee coverage of the Fair Work system is different depending on which state or territory an employee is employed in? ---- Like this post? Like 👍 | Comment ✍ | Repost ♻️ #humanresources #pointyendofhr #gettingbeyondhesaidshesaid #employmentlaw

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“Retaliatory” redundancy sees employee awarded over $500,000 💼 In Bowen v Bank of New Zealand [2025] NZERA 380, the Employment Relations Authority awarded over $500,000 to Ms Bowen, a former BNZ employee, including $105,000 compensation for humiliation, loss of dignity, and injury to feelings. Ms Bowen was employed by BNZ and made a protected disclosure complaint about two colleagues. One of those colleagues was subsequently involved in planning a restructuring that resulted in Ms Bowen’s role being disestablished and her being made redundant. The Authority determined that there was no genuine commercial reason to disestablish Ms Bowen’s role and that this was done in retaliation for her protected disclosure. On this basis, the Authority determined that Ms Bowen was unjustifiably dismissed and unjustifiably disadvantaged. Ms Bowen provided evidence of the impact on her health, including PTSD and a Major Depressive Disorder. The Authority ordered BNZ to pay $105,000 compensation ($60,000 for unjustified dismissal and $45,000 for the retaliation), $329,687 lost wages, $48,000 for lost bonuses, $4,378 for KiwiSaver, $8,975 for medical costs, $10,000 for the legal fees Ms Bowan incurred during the restructuring process, and an $8,000 penalty. The case follows high monetary awards in other recent determinations. It is a stark reminder that employers must have justifiable and genuine reasons to make an employee redundant and must not be influenced by irrelevant factors. If you require any assistance with employment processes in your business, please contact a member of our employment team.

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This morning the RCSA Australia and New Zealand WA Council hosted a free breakfast seminar, attended by 70 recruitment leaders and staffing professionals to learn more from Pendragon Management about workforce planning, visas, sponsorship and strategies to tackle the local skills shortage by focusing on overseas talent. Guided by Neil Merola, CEO of Pendragon Management, Virginia Bennett and Dave Bell shared expert insights and real-life experiences navigating the journey of bringing international workers to Australia, with some of the key takeaways including: 💡Securing visas and sponsorship is easier and less time-consuming than you think (and was in the past) 💡Tapping into overseas talent expands your pool and helps you to solve your clients’ issues - and get them the best person for the job 💡Government is supportive of professional migration and most applications are being approved, and relatively quickly 💡Anywhere outside of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane metro areas is considered regional - which opens up the regional visa route (and a faster/cheaper pathway to sponsorship) 💡Whilst some of the Visa costs are paid for by the employer, the employee can take on other costs such as clearances, medicals and relocation - and contracts can include provisions for repayments to be made if someone leaves within a certain timeframe 💡the 482 visa requirement to only work for the same employer for 6 months has a workaround - you can change the employer (ie another business entity) or the work location (and WFH/hybrid is a different work location) and the rules reset for every new WFH As an approved RCSA supplier, Pendragon Management are available to provide suppprt and guidance and help facilitate labour hire arrangements and visa applications. Thank you for facilitating the session and on behalf of the RCSA WA Council thanks to everyone that came along! #recruitment #RCSA #LoveYourWork

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Contractor payments used to take 96 hours. Now they take 10. Austral Education Group didn’t just save time, they saved $18K and stopped hearing complaints. Manual processes, unpredictable fees, and rigid schedules were holding them back. So they said goodbye to bank fees and bottlenecks, and hello to a system that actually works for them. The results were immediate. Fewer delays. Lower costs. Happier contractors. And a finance team that can finally focus on what’s next (not what’s late). What changed everything for Austral? Read the full case study👇 https://okt.to/dhxCHo

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Australia’s HR market remains strong, but organisations are adapting to a more cautious talent landscape. Interim and project-based HR professionals are increasingly supporting critical initiatives, while key trends are shaping the way HR adds strategic value: HR at the centre of workforce transformation From reporting to predicting: the rise of HR analytics Wellbeing and belonging as core to retention DEI evolution: from policy to accountability Explore how HR leaders can stay ahead and build sustainable, high-performing workforces.  https://lnkd.in/gMuFZ3h6

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