Job opportunities tempt Aussies to flee from Sydney to Melbourne

Melbourne CBD — The central business district (CBD) of Melbourne can be seen from the area located along the Yarra River called Southbank located in Melbourne, Australia, July 27, 2016. Reuters/David Gray

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates that population in Victoria rose more than any other state in Australia since 2013. Critics are saying that the increasing number of highly sought tech jobs means people are “fleeing Sydney in huge numbers” in favour of Melbourne.

As businesses like department store David Jones move its headquarters to Melbourne from Sydney, New South Wales Labor says the state suffers a “brain drain” to its southern neighbour. According to a population expert, cheaper housing and opportunities for employment tempt people to move to the other side.

David Jones is going to move its corporate office to Melbourne after178 years in Sydney. The value of the incentives the Victorian Government offered Jones to head south was not disclosed. David Jones carries almost 1.000 jobs to the state.

As the NSW Government looked from March 2015 to May 2017, it said that a different metric showed 40 percent of new jobs in the country boomed in the state. Overall, population in Australia is growing at 1.5 percent annual rate, which surpassed the OECD average of 1.2 percent.

However, growth is not spread evenly. Western Australia lost its title as the fastest growing state in 2013 after nearly ten years of outstripping other states. Victoria, on the other hand, is currently at the top of the ladder. It used to be the fourth most famous state for domestic and international migration.

Figures for the year to September indicate all state’s population rose. It also showed Victoria steamed ahead with a 2.1 percent growth rate while Queensland and NSW grew by 1.4 percent.

Nearly 12,000 people left NSW in favour of other states. Victoria gained 17,000 new residents.

Why workers are leaving NSW?

Shadow NSW Treasurer Ryan Park explained workers were leaving NSW because it has become a less attractive place to do business. Victoria has offered incentives to draw huge companies to Melbourne.

“Not only is the Berejiklian Government failing to keep residents in the state, they’re failing to attract big businesses including technology start-ups to set up shop here,” he told news.com.au. He added that the Premier’s done nothing in order to lessen the cost of living for people. Therefore, people are fleeing in bulk elsewhere.

Some overseas multinationals have picked Melbourne over Sydney for their head offices in the country. These include Chinese tech giant Alibaba, US technology company Go Pro and cloud-based accounting company Xero.

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