Key challenge is encouraging more skilled people to join tech workforce, says expert
A new report is warning of a potential shortage in tech workers despite a massive surge in the sector's workforce in the past decade.
The latest Digital Pulse report from the Australian Computer Society (ACS) revealed that the country's tech workforce has grown by 60% since 2014 to pass the one-million mark in 2024.
However, this milestone comes against the backdrop of increasing demand for tech workers.
"By 2030, Australia will need 1.3 million technology workers based on current business demand, equating to 52,000 tech workers per year," the report revealed. "While the technology workforce has grown strongly over the past decade, Australia is not on track to meet industry demand."
Source: ACS Digital Pulse report
Addressing the looming shortage
According to the report, there are 1.1 million workers who have similar skills and tasks to tech roles who could support the tech workforce growth.
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Source: ACS Digital Pulse report
"One of our key challenges for the rest of the decade will be to encourage more people in this group to join the tech workforce," said John O'Mahony, Deloitte Partner and author of the ACS Australia's Digital Pulse, in a statement.
Among the challenges pointed out by workers considering a career move into the tech sector is their lack of digital skills, with the biggest barriers being the time and the cost of training.
To address the problem, the report recommended further consideration of shorter, cheaper, and more targeted courses to build digital skills or recognise prior experience developing these skills.
"This should include greater promotion of micro-credentials to workers as a valid pathway to transition workers into a technology career," the report read.
"Alternative pathways may be especially important for helping 'near tech' workers transition given that they already have many of the fundamental skills required to be a technology worker."
Employers should also consider being more accepting of these alternative pathways that workers might take to acquire digital skills, the report added.