Australia is in dire need of workers. From healthcare and teaching, to farms and the factory floor, the country is in the grip of a national labour shortage. Regional towns like Griffith, in central NSW, are crying out for more workers while those still in jobs struggle to shoulder the burden. Across the country, 470,900 jobs remain unfilled and job vacancies have jumped 40 per cent in the last year. The federal government has promised to speed up Australia’s visa processing system to bring in more foreign workers, but there’s a massive backlog to work through: almost 70,000 applications for temporary and permanent skilled visas alone. Four Corners investigates what’s behind this crisis, and the financial, physical and emotional toll it’s taking. __________ If this story has raised any issues, you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636. _________ Watch more Four Corners investigations here: https://bit.ly/2JbpMkf​ You can also like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abc4corners/​ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/4corners​ ___________ Note: In most cases, our captions are auto-generated. #ABCNewsIndepth #ABCNewsAustralia