Booming digital future in Australia
There has been a digital boom taking place in Australia, with a new report by ACS revealing that strong growth in the ICT workforce is expected to continue.
The ‘Australia’s Digital Pulse’ report indicates that more than 40,000 technology jobs were created during 2015–2016, with an additional 81,000 jobs needed by 2022.
New economic modelling shows that adoption of digital technologies has lifted Australia’s GDP by 6.6% over the previous decade — with each Australian being $4663 a year better off (in 2016 dollars).
However, diversity is still an issue — women represent only 28% of the ICT workforce (compared to 44% across all professional industries) and older workers (55+) only represent 12% of Australia’s ICT workforce.
“Technology skills are fast becoming the engine room of the Australian economy. To fast-track our nation’s digital transformation, and ensure the ICT skills base is there to meet demand, we need a clear strategy and dedicated investment focus in this area,” said ACS President Anthony Wong.
LinkedIn Director of Public Policy for Asia Pacific Nick O’Donnell said Australia’s skills shift is accelerating and expanding across every industry.
“We are seeing significant hiring of tech talent by non-tech companies. Half of the top 20 industries hiring ICT workers in 2016 were non-tech, the most active industries being financial services, which jumped from 12th position in 2015 to up to fourth in 2016,” said O’Donnell.
“LinkedIn’s data also shows that the top skills demanded by employers hiring new ICT workers includes a balance of technical skills and broader business skills. Business skills such as relationship management, business strategy and strategic planning in combination with technical skills are highly sought after to drive digitisation of business processes.”
The ACS is actively championing the uptake of coding in schools, better support for teachers in the delivery of emerging technology areas, the establishment of multidisciplinary degrees and relevant training programs to help to build a pipeline of workers with valuable ICT skills.
“In a skills shortage environment, skilled migration is an important lever for developing competitive advantage for the nation. However, it needs to be targeted, and needs to address the genuine skills gaps in the domestic market, while ensuring migrant workers are not exploited,” said Wong.
The report further highlights a ‘to-do’ list for government that includes multiplying digital precincts, prioritising cyber, transitioning education and getting more people to study ICT, supporting Australian start-ups, the next steps for the nbn and wireless technology, and focusing on efforts towards open data, digitising government and copyright reform.
The full report can be downloaded here.
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