“Migrant workers play an important part in different sectors in the economy but there’s a big swathe in the middle where all of a sudden there’s going to be a hell of a lot of unemployment and local skills available for hire that don’t come with the price tag that a temporary migrant comes with."

How businesses cope during the crisis may also cause them to rethink how they do things in the future, he said.

"They may say, hang on well we managed during this crisis with a software developer in Denmark, one in Delaware, one in Cambodia, why do we need to send these people to Australia?"

According to the Department of Home Affairs, at the end of last year there were 65,000 skilled visa workers in the country, 480,000 student visa holders, 90,000 temporary graduate visa holders and 140,000 working holiday makers.

But with restaurants, bars, tourism, events, hospitality and retail businesses shutting down, ANZ analysis on Monday predicted unemployment during the coronavirus crisis would follow the 1990s recession, where the jobless rate hit 11.2 per cent at its peak.

Migration expert Dr Bob Birrell said the government would have to re-evaluate its visa policies given the "very large numbers of temporary visa holders already in Australia who are going to be ferociously competing for available work".

"It will be difficult to sustain a 'business as usual' case for the skilled migration program," he said.

"The hardest hit industries are those that employ temporary casuals and that's occurring at a time when we have a huge number of temporary visa holders in Australia ... it's going to very difficult for domestic workers, particularly in entry level jobs, to find work."


Dr Birrell said any significant changes would also have to re-imagine the economy as the government had relied on the migration program to drive economic growth during a time of weak labour productivity.

Immigration lawyer Alan Rigas argued skilled visa workers would be essential for a fast recovery and urged business and government to consider strategies to keep them in the country, including allowing them to transition to different sectors.

"While we are all hopeful for a strong and quick recovery from the effects of this pandemic, for many businesses dependent on sponsored visa holders to bridge a specific skills gap, recovery will take much longer if these non-resident employees are forced to leave Australia," he said.

"It's not as simple as picking up sponsorship where you left off, and for some Australian businesses, there will be long term commercial consequences."

Currently, visa holders do not have access to welfare and skilled visa workers cannot have their hours cut or work for an alternative employer if they are stood down.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry employment director Jenny Lambert said there was a case for the government to assist skilled visa workers to meet hospitals' increased demand to combat the coronavirus.

"How do we make sure that we can extend the visas of people who are working in the health industry or how can we fast-track people who are already in the country who can become skilled nurses?"

Acting Minister for Immigration Alan Tudge said the government knew of visa workers "unable to return home or who have skills that will be in high demand during this crisis, including in health, aged care, agriculture and other essential ­services".

"We are focused on this and have been working with industry to provide more flexibility in relation to visas and conditions. The aim is to ensure businesses can continue to operate and temporary migrants can continue to support themselves, and help Australia, during this crisis.”