Expert says tech jobs also vital for regional areas
Queensland’s technology workforce continues to grow strongly, boosting jobs and growth across the state, the Australian Computer Society (ACS) said.
Based on the 2022 Digital Pulse Report, published by ACS, nearly 115,000 of the state’s workers were employed in information technology (IT) jobs, which could grow more over the coming years.
The ACS also said that some of the significant findings of Queensland in terms of its tech workforce include:
- 114,738 Queenslanders now work in the IT sector
- Workforce has increased by 3,164 or 2.8% from the year before
- In the next five years, the workforce is expected to grow to 152,790
- Annual growth of the state’s tech workforce is estimated to be 4.9%
- Tech sector is not just part of city-based industries because over 2,500 Queenslanders are currently employed in mining and agricultural IT roles
Growth of tech jobs in the region
According to ACS Queensland Chair, Beau Tydd, the 2022 Digital Pulse report indeed showed that tech jobs are not only confined to industries located in the city but also expanded to regional areas.
“Tech jobs are not just a big city thing,” she said. “We are just winding up a terrific regional roadshow that’s shown how important the tech sector is to regional businesses and communities.”
Moreover, as work from home remains a feasible choice for many technology sector employees amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the Digital Pulse report said that individuals would likely relocate to regional areas.
“The employee survey found that nearly nine in ten technology workers would consider moving to regional areas,” the report stated.
Meanwhile, the report also said that the government should make significant investments to promote the development of the technology workforce, especially within regional Australia.
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Accordingly, the ACS said that it is “working on building its regional footprint and are planning on launching a new Far North Queensland ACS Chapter and a Sunshine Coast Chapter in coming months.’
Australia’s tech workforce
The report showed that Australia’s tech sector grew nationally by 8% over the previous year, with over 870,000 Australians currently working in IT roles. Meanwhile, the tech workforce as a whole only grew by 3.4%.
“In the next five years, the tech sector will employ over 1.2 million Australians, with the workforce having an average annual growth rate of 5.5%,” ACS said.
John O’Mahony, the co-author of the Digital Pulse series, described Australia’s tech workforce growth as “astonishing” and said that soon, there would be one million tech workers in the country.
“Individuals can earn, on average, an extra $11,000 every year in salary in tech occupations compared with other professional occupations,” O’Mahony said.
“If we can boost diversity in the technology workforce it could be worth over $20 billion to our economy over the next two decades,” he added.
The Digital Pulse report also said businesses could further retain and attract workers by enacting workforce diversity and flexible working conditions.