Tech Council of Australia, DSO partner to solve tech talent crisis

The Technology Council of Australia (TCA) and the Digital Skills Organisation (DSO) have launched a partnership to solve Australia’s acute tech talent crisis. The TCA forecasts that Australia will need 1,000,000 people in tech jobs by 2025. This means an additional 260,000 people need to enter tech jobs in the next four years. Yasmin Allen, DSO Board Chairman, noted that finding people to fill these roles is vital but challenging, as Australia is not producing people with these skills at scale. “It is not simply a technology sector issue, it’s an economy-wide issue. Every Australian company is going through a digital transformation, accelerated through the pandemic,” Allen said.

Allen added that the industry-first partnership will build on the pilots DSO is doing and create more employer-led approaches by improving the visibility of tech job opportunities and pathways into them, and improving the responsiveness of the training and migration systems to employment needs. The DSO is working with employers to implement a skills-based approach which provides every person with the digital skills needed for them to be successful.

“There is a significant shortfall between the demand for and supply of digitally skilled workers. DSO is playing a pivotal role helping to link employers, learners and training providers,” Allen said.

The first deliverable from the partnership is the creation of The Digital Employment Forum, which brings together major tech employers and educators to transform Australia’s approach to attracting and training tech workers, with the aim of solving its tech talent crisis. Scott Farquhar, co-CEO and co-Founder of Atlassian and Board Director of TCA, said Australia is on the right path to embracing the enormous opportunity, adding that the jobs are here, if the workforce can be upskilled and reskilled.

“With an estimate of 1 million tech jobs needed by 2025, we can train and employ more Australians into high-value tech careers and give our economy a post-pandemic shot in the arm. From Bendigo to Bella Vista, Australians everywhere can grow into a digital career that is in high demand and highly paid. If we embrace this opportunity now, Australia will win,” Farquhar said.

The Digital Employment Forum comprises four pillars: Research; Strategy; Training and Skills; and Employment Matching. The Forum strives to produce an innovative data-driven research program that defines and identifies tech employment needs, talent pathways, skills gaps and migration needs across the economy. It also aims to develop a cross-economy digital employment workforce strategy to help align the industry, training providers and government on core industry needs, accounting for key roles and levels of skill and experience.

The Forum will bring together educators, industry and support providers to identify skills and training needs and priorities, best practice training lessons, and policy and implementation gaps for tech workforce training and development. It will also connect employers with education providers and workers by aggregating tech training options and employer job opportunities and programs.

The Founding Employment and Training Partners include ATN, CBA, Swinburne University, Wesfarmers, Woolworths and nbn co.

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