In Australia, it is widely publicised that there is currently a severe skills shortage impacting the corporate sector.  Nearly every business has some form of IT transformation agenda, whether it’s the introduction of new technologies, increased digitisation; such as transitioning to cloud computing, increasing internal capabilities with the use of Data and Business Intelligence or rolling out Automation & AI. Organisations recognise that the introduction of these technologies can completely change the way they operate with the aim of either streamlining their business or obtaining a competitive advantage.

The growth of demand for IT transformation has seen the need for skilled IT professionals far outweigh the supply of local skilled professionals, creating a fierce war on talent. Covid-19 border closures, declining enrolments into IT courses at universities and the return of international students to their home countries have all exacerbated the crisis and has left many businesses struggling to find the staff they need to fill these critical roles. Additionally, the demand for higher salaries is experienced by all organisations but without deep pockets too compete, SMEs and start-ups are hit hard in particular. Reports suggest there is a $12,000 average wage premium paid for cyber security workers, with AusCyber adding that it can take 20%-30% longer to fill these roles compared with other IT positions.

Regardless, graduates, migrants and paying premium salaries wont solve the problem alone. A recent article in the AFR states that Australia will need an extra 6.5 million digital workers in the next four years to keep up with technological change, according to research from Amazon that reveals the technology skills gap continues to deepen. The number of newly skilled and reskilled technology workers will need to increase 79% by 2025, and the average worker will need to gain seven new digital skills to keep pace, a report from Amazon Web Services says.

Encouragingly, there have been recent initiatives, including the establishment of the Tech Council of Australia in August 2021 who is partnering with the government to improve the visibility of tech roles and re-skill our workforce, which is certainly a step in the right direction. Kate Pounder, CEO of the Tech Council of Australia states “To get one million people employed in tech sector jobs by 2025, we need an additional 286,000 workers to join the sector. To meet this ambitious target, reskilling and upskilling workers must become the primary way tech jobs are filled. The government has recognised the issue and is taking steps to address it. For example, it has announced a $500 million investment in vocational education and training (VET) to help meet the needs of employers and there are initiatives such as the Tech Schools Program, which is designed to give students exposure to the latest technologies and help them develop the skills they need for a career in IT.

A recent report from Deloitte Access Economics found that for every dollar invested in vocational education and training (VET), there is a return of $24 to the economy. VET not only provides individuals with the skills they need to find employment, but it also boosts productivity and creates jobs. However, there is still some way to go to bridge the skills gap in order to retrain and upskill our workforce. We must ensure that individuals have access to the most up-to-date technologies and that businesses are investing in their employees and minimising gatekeeping of digital skills. Our digital future relies on workers with the skills and knowledge to keep innovation going, and companies need to think creatively about how they approach development and visibility of opportunity for people to embrace technology as a fulfilling long-term career.

Invest in local talent

The last two years have taught us that relying on foreign talent to grow our economy is not sustainable. The tech skills gap was exacerbated as international workers couldn't come in and out of Australia to fill the gaps. We can no longer rely on overseas talent as a long-term solution; therefore we should be looking at how to invest in, and grow our local talent. This entails ensuring that not only those who are currently employed can benefit from skills development, but also future graduates. In Israel for example, high school students graduate with the same cybersecurity abilities as university grads in Australia at the age of 18. Teaching cybersecurity as a required subject in high school would assist recognising its importance in our nation's future.

Address gender diversity

Encouraging more women to enter the tech field is another way to grow our local talent. Tech certainly has a way to go to improve gender diversity - of the worlds 5 tech giants (Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Google) only 34% of employees are women! In 2020, 44% of all people employed in the ICT professional industries in Australia were women but in comparison, only 16% of people working in the ICT trades in the country were women. This is despite the fact that women outperform men in computer science subjects at university. There are many initiatives aimed at getting more females interested in tech careers, such as Girls Who Code, which is a global non-profit organisation working to close the gender gap in tech. Australia also has its own initiatives, such as the Tech Girls Movement, which aims to increase the participation of girls and young women in STEM. There has also been a rise in networking platforms targeted specifically to women in the sector.

Keep it practical

Compounding the problem further, is the tendency of our major universities to produce graduates with strong ‘theoretical’ groundings in IT, developed at the expense of hands-on capabilities and any sort of business acumen. Ten or more years ago it made sense to equip IT graduates with certifications on specific platforms, but the pace of change has accelerated to the point where these skills are often somewhat obsolete by graduation day. Encouragingly, a handful of institutions are now reshaping IT courses with more emphasis on real-world skills and understanding business, but the fruits of these efforts are years away from being realised.

Provide incentives

If we want businesses to invest in their employees and provide them with the necessary training and development, then we need to provide them with incentives to do so. This could be in the form of tax breaks, subsidies or other financial incentives. It could also be in the form of non-financial measures such as increasing the visibility of businesses that are investing in their employees and providing them with opportunities to develop their skills. This would not only help to close the skills gap, but it would also boost productivity and create jobs. The shortage of skills across all areas of ICT poses real threats to organisations as they look increasingly to digital technologies to drive innovation and productivity improvements.  

In 2022, success for any organisation can be found in striking the right balance of a ‘fit for purpose’ technology stack being managed by a proportionate sized team of IT professionals- which, when managed correctly can offset their own cost through the value they deliver to the entire organisation.

I hope you found this article somewhat insightful. If you are interested in exploring a career in Tech, please reach out to myself or one of the West Technology team today to open a conversation.