Canberra, Nov 23 (IANS): Skilled migrants in Australia face recruitment barriers that lead to a surplus of overqualified delivery and taxi drivers while necessary jobs remain unfilled, a new research revealed on Thursday.

"Our research shows that skilled migrants who move to Australia and students who stay in Australia after study end up in jobs lower than their skill level due to barriers in the application process," June Tran, a lecturer with the RMIT University in Melbourne, was quoted as saying in a statement.

Recruiters would set unfair requirements for local work experience and only recognize local certificates or qualifications, Xinhua news agency reported citing thr research as saying.

Applicants' lack of understanding of the application requirements in Australia, such as cover letters and addressing key selection criteria, is one of the barriers noted in the research.

There is also bias toward applicants from Western countries with less experience over people from Asian non-English-speaking countries, the research revealed.

"These skilled migrants we so desperately need end up taking jobs well below their skill level to support themselves and their families and to cope with the skilled migrant-unfriendly recruitment practices," Tran said.

The research was first published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources in October 2023.