Victoria sees tech resurgence

 

State sees strong IT sector recovery after flat Covid period

 

 

1 August, 2022

 

Victoria’s tech sector employment recovered strongly after a flat year during the Covid pandemic, the ACS Digital Pulse report has found.

 

This year’s report found Victoria’s IT employment bounced back to 271,474 – a surge of over ten percent over 2021’s figures which showed a 0.3% decline on the previous twelve months.

 

Prepared by Deloitte Access Economics for the Australian Computer Society, Digital Pulse tracks the key trends in Australia’s technology workforce and the sector’s potential over the next five years. Key findings for Victoria in this year’s report include:

 

•       7.9% of Victoria’s workforce now work in the technology sector.

 

•       271,474 Victorians have IT jobs.

 

•       This is 25,311, or 10.3% more than last year.

 

•       Over the next five years, Victoria’s tech sector is expected to employ 369,970 people.

 

•       Annual growth of the state’s tech workforce estimated to be 5.3%.

 

ACS Victoria Chair, Dr Rod Dilnutt said of the state’s results: “The technology sector’s strong growth over the past year illustrates the successes Victoria has had in attracting some of the world’s top tech talent and businesses.

 

“Last year’s flat result was disappointing as the rest of the nation’s tech workforce boomed, but we’re glad to see the state is back on track. The growth though illustrates how important it is to build the state’s digital skills base.”

 

ACS Victoria will be holding an event to discuss the state’s Digital Pulse findings at its Melbourne Docklands Hub at 839 Collins Street from 5.30pm on Tuesday, August 2. Media are welcome to attend, please contact Troy Steer whose details are below.

 

Nationally, the report found Australia’s tech workforce grew by 8% over the previous year, with over 870,000 Australians now working in IT roles. By comparison, the workforce as a whole only grew 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%, the report found.  

 

Digital Pulse also flagged the need for Australian businesses and government to do more to train workers and encourage greater diversity in the technology workforce. Women represent only 31% of the technology workers, compared to 48% across the Australian workforce.

 

In the report, ACS recommends seven measures to address the nation’s technology skills needs:

 

1.           develop and promote workplace policies to encourage diverse technology talent

 

2.           provide schoolteachers with more resources to improve student digital literacy and increase awareness of technology career pathways

 

3.           greater coordination between agencies to develop skills in the technology workforce

 

4.           further encourage businesses to deepen digital skills in other occupations

 

5.           work to retain existing technology talent in Australia

 

6.           encourage employers to consider more diverse pathways into the technology sector

 

7.           boost government and industry investment in the technology sector.

 

John O’Mahony, Partner at Deloitte Access Economics and co-author of the Digital Pulse series added: “Australia’s tech workforce growth has been astonishing – we will soon have one million tech workers in this country.

 

“Individuals can earn, on average, an extra $11,000 every year in salary in tech occupations compared with other professional occupations. If we can boost diversity in the technology workforce it could be worth over $20 billion to our economy over the next two decades.”

 

Digital Pulse also highlighted how businesses can better retain current workers and attract new staff by supporting diverse workforces and flexible working conditions.

 

The full 2022 Digital Pulse report can be downloaded from the ACS website at www.acs.org.au.

 

 

 

-ENDS-

 

 

 

Further information

 

Troy Steer

 

Director of Corporate Affairs and Public Policy

 

M – 0417 173 740

 

E – troy.steer@acs.org.au

 

 

 

About Us

 

ACS is the professional association for Australia’s technology sector and the largest community with 47,000+ members from across business, government and education.

 

ACS champions the technologies, people and skills critical to Australia’s future, creating value for ACS members, the tech sector and society in four ways:

 

Community

 

Our focus is on fostering an innovative and inclusive community that is dedicated to powering positive change through technology.

 

Capability

 

We set the standard for assessing, developing and recognising the skills and experience of technology professionals.

 

Career

 

We create career pathways to guide technology professionals and ensure Australia has a pipeline of talent with the right skills and knowledge.

 

Migration

 

We assess and support skilled technology migrants to address critical skills shortages, improve diversity and enrich Australia’s workforce.

 

Find out more at: acs.org.au