New data has revealed that Western Australia leads the nation in terms of growth in its technology sector workforce, currently doubling at a rate almost double that of the national average.
The Deloitte Access Economics (ACS) Digital Pulse 2022 report is an authoritative annual report that analyses the health of the nation’s tech sector.
Key findings for the Western Australia sector include 60,404 West Australians now work in the local IT sector. In the past year, the workforce has grown by 8,320 – equating to a 15.96% increase.
Over the next five years, this workforce is expected to grow to a total of 82,726,
Annual growth of the state’s workforce over the next five years is expected to be 5.4%, which is on par with the rest nation. Notably, the mining sector employs nearly 5,000 of the tech workforce.
“This year’s Digital Pulse shows how the technology sector is a key part of the West’s economy,” said ACS West Australian Chair, Jeanne Williams.
The stunning growth in the mining sector’s employment of tech workers shows just how critical digital technologies are to all the state’s industries.
Jeanne Williams, ACS West Australian Chair
“At ACS we’re working with the state government, industry and education providers to meet the ever-growing demand for digitally literate workers and technology professionals with the skills essential to keep the state moving.”
“We’re also hoping the Federal government’s upcoming Jobs and Skills summit recognises how important the technology sector is to WA’s economy and works with the state government to help build the West’s digital skills.”
Nearing 1 million tech workforce milestone
On a national basis, the tech workforce grew by 8% over the previous year. Over 870,000 Australians now work in IT roles. The tech sector is expected to employ over 1.2 million Australians within the next five years. The Digital Pulse report also flagged the need for Australian businesses and government to train more workers and encourage greater diversity. Women only represent 31% of technology workers.
As part of the report, seven measures to address the nation’s technology skills needs have been recommended by ACS.
- develop and promote workplace policies to encourage diverse technology talent
- provide schoolteachers with more resources to improve student digital literacy and increase awareness of technology career pathways
- greater coordination between agencies to develop skills in the technology workforce
- further encourage businesses to deepen digital skills in other occupations
- work to retain existing technology talent in Australia
- encourage employers to consider more diverse pathways into the technology sector
- boost government and industry investment in the technology sector.
Deloitte Access Economics Partner John O’Mahony said the growth experienced by the tech workforce has been astonishing
“Individuals can earn, on average, an extra $11,000 every year in salary in tech occupations compared with other professional occupations,” he noted.
“If we can boost diversity in the technology workforce it could be worth over $20 billion to our economy over the next two decades.”
