Report predicts surge in WA ICT jobs market to 2025

Australia’s technology workforce exceeded three quarters of a million (772,000) in 2019, according to the 2020 Western Australian edition of ACS Australia’s Digital Pulse report. The report revealed that the number of technology workers increased by 6.8% between 2018 and 2019 — 1.5 times the growth in the number of professional occupations in the same period. The state’s ICT workforce also increased by 10.98% from 2018 to 2019.

The annual report provides a detailed examination of digital workforce trends, aimed at informing public debate about this area of the economy. The report predicts that WA will continue growing its technology workforce over the next five years, with an extra 15,000 technology roles to be created between now and 2025. However, an additional 156,000 technology workers will be needed by 2025 to keep pace with current demand.

As measured by gross domestic product (GDP), the Australian economy is 6.5% ($126 billion) larger in 2019 than it would have been without the productivity benefits of digital technology. The future of the state’s IT workforce is also secure, with 228 students graduating with IT qualifications from WA universities in 2018.

ACS Western Australia Vice Chair Rebecca Waters MACS CP predicts that technology skills will continue to play a critical role in how Western Australian businesses compete nationally and on a global stage.

“It’s promising to see a healthy increase of 10.98% in technology workers from 2018 to 2019. The report also reiterates the need to focus on upskilling our state’s technology workers, as well as investing in digital capacity, in order to meet the growing demand for workers in our state,” said Waters.

The report also addressed how businesses responded to the COVID-19 pandemic across products, channels, people, customer service, operations and systems. Assessing the potential long-term legacy and citing previous research, the report posits that highly digitally engaged businesses earn 60% more revenue per employee and grow 28% faster than businesses with poor digital management.

The report also explored six key areas to improve the performance and competitiveness of Australia’s digital economy and workforce. The six areas include upskilling and reskilling, investment in digital capacity, research and development, shaping the digital landscape through e-invoicing, encouraging technology start-ups through employee share schemes, and improving the measurement of the ICT sector’s contribution to the Australian economy.

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