School students are being left in the dark about one of Australia’s fastest-growing future industries, according to our latest research.
That’s despite start-ups and industry experts demanding the training and upskilling of young people to help address the critical skills shortage in the technology sector in the federal budget. However unfortunately for them, our research has found nearly 1 in 2 young people have said their school didn’t teach them about digital careers.
The Tech Council of Australia estimates the country needs between 150-300k digital technology workers by 2025, but the number of Aussie students graduating with an IT degree is falling spectacularly short of demand.
While forecasts say we need an additional 60,000 skilled digital professionals a year to reach demand, just 10,000 students graduated with an IT degree or completed a Cert IV in the ICT training in 2019.
Careers in software engineering, product management, data analysis, cyber security, digital marketing and design offer flexibility, generous salaries and location independency – job perks Gen Zs love.
So what’s behind the tech talent crisis?
We at Year13 partnered with the Australian Government’s Digital Skills Organisation (DSO) to survey hundreds of young Aussies aged 15 to 24 to find out – and the answers surprised us.
With perceptions like you needing to be a ‘tech wizard’ to enter the industry existing (despite only needing a ‘moderate’ amount of vocational training), it’s not surprising to find information around digital careers in a formal context has been limited for young people.
For example, 45% of Gen Zs said they’d never been taught about digital careers in school, and roughly half (49%) admitted that when it came to embarking on a career in tech, they didn’t even know where to start. This is not to suggest schools are responsible for this tech skills shortage, but that it presents a prime opportunity to increase the awareness of this new and growing industry as a legitimate career path for all different types of school students.
Atlassian’s Head of Global Policy & Regulatory Affairs and DSO Board Member David Masters told us what they’re doing to attract young workers.
“We desperately need to grow the pool of talent,” he said.
“To hit the Tech Council of Australia’s 1 million jobs target by 2025 we need 286,000 more tech workers in just the next three years. As the Year13 research shows, many young people don’t understand the opportunity of a digital career or where to start, but you can change that with the right information and advice.
“The areas of highest demand across the industry are in key technical roles like data, software engineering and cyber security but also in areas like user experience, design, project and product management. Across the board, competition for talent is hotter than it’s ever been. In addition to salary, many are looking to differentiate on things like flexibility and work-life balance. Atlassian’s approach on Team Anywhere – where we’ll hire the right talent regardless of their location – is a great demonstration of this.
“Across the industry we’re seeing an increase in alternative pathways into tech careers, particularly more vocationally focused pathways like traineeships and internships. Atlassian will take in 120 interns this year in Australia. The industry is also seeing an increase in bootcamp-style courses which can provide rapid upskilling or career transition through 6-18 month intensive programs.”
Not just for geeks
To show young people there’s a lot more to working in tech than coding we at Year13 have launched our free short online course DigiSkills which shows how to navigate digital technology career paths from marketing to design to cyber security. If you know a young person who you think could have a positive future in the digital sector then feel free to share the link with them!
A 15-year-old female from NSW told us how the half-hour long course had helped her.
“My take on the digital industry is really positive, since having a digital skill set at my fingertips will put me miles ahead of the competition,” she said.
“Working in the digital industry is something I’d like to do. This course changed my perspective on the industry since it taught me that digital skills aren’t just for IT experts, they’re for everyone.”