The employment and occupational outcomes of Indian male migrants in the Australian labour market

This paper builds on the earlier work by Rafi and Lewis (2014) and analyses the employment and occupational outcomes of Indian born male migrants relative to other male cohorts in Australia. The findings indicate that the employment outcomes for Indian born males are similar to that of Australian males and foreign born males from both English speaking and non-English speaking backgrounds. However, as measured by hours worked per week, Indian born male migrants do have a lower engagement with the labour market. The results also indicate that tertiary qualifications make a very modest contribution to increasing the likelihood of an individual being employed. Analysis of the sample data also illustrates that Indian born male migrants in the Australian labour market are correctly matched with occupations relative to their formal training. Taken together with the migrant earnings results presented in Rafi and Lewis (2014) this indicates that while Indian born males do not face difficulty in finding suitable employment, they are still not as successful at generating higher returns to their tertiary education relative to the other male cohorts.