There were now "about four jobs" for every candidate in a list of hard-to-fill categories, according to a senior executive in the Australian recruitment industry.

Richard Parnell, chief executive of the Australian operation of global recruitment firm Robert Walters, said accountants, engineers and even solicitors were getting very hard to find.

Mr Parnell said that despite the desperate shortage of people for the available jobs Australia was allowing young candidates from overseas to slip through its fingers.

"Backpackers are no longer coming here to lie in the sun - they want to make their careers here," Mr Parnell said.

Would-be travellers were well informed about the skills shortage in Australia via the Internet and word of mouth, he said.

http://finance.news.com.au/story/0,10166,17511948-31037,00.html