Women make up the majority in this category (75%).  However, developments worthy of note are reported by the males: according to the Sydney Herald, in fact, it seems that after a poor season in terms of profitability of barber shops, this type of commercial activity is today experiencing an era of real rebirth. That assertion is confirmed by the authoritative research institute Ibis World, which believes the resurgence of barbers is a long-term trend. With respect to the industry as a whole, barbers represent a modest 7%, but the rate of constant growth is significant. At the base of this micro-sector’s return to popularity is the brilliant intuition: it’s not so much about the haircut as the experience that makes it worth spending $50 on a haircut.

Potentially very high profits, therefore, from a barber shop, depending on the qualities, and not just technical, of the employees. In fact, it is also fundamental to be inclined towards contact with the public, a certain level of customer service and attention to detail, precise prerequisites for getting work in a salon. According to the Australian Industry and Skills Committee, in fact, it’s not so much the technical skills that are lacking in the labour force for the sector, as the so called ‘soft-skills’, such as emotional intelligence, resilience and problem solving. English, moreover, is considered a ‘must’. You don’t need a certified level, but functional enough to understand the requests of the clients and collaborators.

Hairdressers and visa – a complicated relationship. In the pre-reform context, a sponsor in any area was enough for the Profession of hairdressing to convert to a permanent visa. With the arrival of the visa TSS 482, the Profession is listed as required, but only Short-Term. That means that this sponsorship in an urban area can only have a temporary nature, not permanent. So, is it impossible to obtain permanent residency with this Profession? No, but it is necessary to delve deeper with a consultant, to clarify whether the potential applicant satisfies the prerequisites for visas 494, 491 or 190.

Qualification: Certificate III in Barbering / Certificates III and IV in Hairdressing
Skill Level: 3
Profession: Hairdresser (Skill Level 3)
Course program: https://training.gov.au/TrainingComponentFiles/SHB/SHB40216_R1.pdf (Hairdresser)
https://training.gov.au/TrainingComponentFiles/SHB/SHB30516_R1.pdf (Barber)
Description: the courses tend to cover every single aspect of the work of a hairdresser and barber. The choice of institute, however, has a big impact on costs and quality of the program. There are one-year courses for $6,000 and others of the same length that cost three times as much. This is because often some schools are founded by salons that achieve such a high level of prestige that they found a school, as occurred for example with Biba Academy, today both a vocational institute and an established chain of hairdressers.