Last year, nearly 29,000 sc457 visas were cancelled due to poor business conditions, forcing these temporary workers to go back home. The Australian reports that the number of foreigners ­applying for a four-year work visa fell below 50,000 during 2013-14 — and the number of foreign tradies looking for work halved to 12,000.

Referring to unpublished DIBP statistics, the report states that compared to last year, the total number of sc457 visa cancellations increased by about 45%.

The lower skilled visa applications were hit the hardest as applications from foreigners for clerical and administrative jobs crashed 80 per cent to just 660 during 2013-14, compared with 3370 the year before.

With Australia’s unemployment rate levels above 6.1 per cent, the number of foreign managers applying to work here fell 41 per cent to 9720. Visa applications from professionals fell almost a third to 24,810.

The biggest employer of foreign workers — the tourism and hospitality sector — saw applications halve to 5330 during the year.

Migrant work visa applications also halved in the construction sector — down to 4490 — and fell 55 per cent in the mining industry, to 2600 applications.

A spokesman for Assistant Minister for Immigration Michaelia Cash yesterday said most of the 457 visas had been cancelled “following the voluntary departure of a visa holder as a result of their employers advising of the end of employment’’.

“Given this is a demand-driven program, the total numbers of cancellations generally reflect the demand for overseas labour,’’ he said. “This slowdown in growth of the program is likely due to the softening labour market as well as a combination of regulatory reform and better targeted monitoring and compliance activities.’’