Impact of COVID-19 on South Asian graduates’ employment experiences in Australia: a qualitative study

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of COVID-19 on South Asian graduates’ employment experiences in Australia. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative exploratory research approach was adopted with in-depth semi-structured interviews with 20 South Asian graduates who studied postgraduate courses in Australia, and these were used for data collection and analysed thematically. Findings The study results highlighted significant positive and negative impacts on employment experienced by this cohort. Positive impact includes gaining employment related to their studies, thus having stability in their employment; negative impact includes difficulties in gaining related-study employment, limited face-to-face networking opportunities and non-renewal of employment-related contracts. Originality/value While scholarly articles have focused on understanding the numerous employability-related challenges faced by international students and graduates from South Asian countries, this is the first paper that sets out to what extent the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted South Asian graduates’ employment experiences in Australia.