Visa entitlements have been slashed and pathways to permanent visas have been blocked for the occupations that currently make up more than half of the 457 workforce.
According to analysis by SBS News, the occupations of more than 45,000 of the 81,000 457 visa holders in Australia at the end of 2016 will from now on only be eligible for the two-year visa, which - unlike the four-year visa - does not include access to permanent residency.
That’s on top of occupations for which approximately 7,000 visas are currently held in Australia being jettisoned from the scheme entirely.
Cooks and restaurant managers will now only have access to the two-year visa - a group that currently represents more than 11,000 workers in Australia.
Also on the list for two-year visas are Marketing Specialists, Sales and Marketing Managers, Resident Medical Officers, Resident Medical Officers, Recruitment Consultants, Management Consultants.
The move to block permanent residency for these occupations is significant given those occupations on the shorter visa list will also be excluded from employer nominated permanent residency visas from March 2018, according to a Department of Immigration fact sheet released overnight.
