Career Moves: Migration Histories of Selected Regional Workforces in Bendigo, Australia

The mobility of young adults is often related to education and employment. In Australia, there is a strong regional dimension to this mobility with state capital cities like Melbourne attracting people from non-metropolitan regions. Spatial patterns of skills accumulation and deficit arise from youth migration to cities, and this continues to be a concern for regional policy makers seeking to boost non-metropolitan growth. However, despite the net flows of human capital towards capital cities, many regional centres still maintain diverse economies and many professional workers choose to locate there. To better understand the characteristics and migration histories of these professional workers, a survey of three workforce samples was undertaken in the city of Bendigo (150 km from Melbourne). These samples (total: 734) were from the Bendigo Bank (n = 440); Bendigo Health (n = 119) and Greater Bendigo City Council (n = 175). While it was expected that metropolitan areas would play a role in migration pathways and skills acquisition, variation was found between the workforces, with one proving to be very regional in its character (Bank) while the others (Council and Hospital) drew workers from both metropolitan and rural areas. Spatial patterns of human capital accumulation are explored in this paper with a view to understanding where such capital is developed and where it subsequently locates. Such analysis will assist policy makers in developing more effective attraction and retention strategies for regional Australia.