When the Tech Council of Australia was launched in 2021, there were about 850,000 people employed in the technology sector in this country.
The freshly minted industry group set itself the audacious goal of growing that number to 1.2 million tech employees by 2030.
It was a neat piece of political messaging. Who doesn’t support the creation of new, high-value jobs in the tech sector?
The Albanese government liked the ambition so much that it adopted the target as its own. And the industry department was tasked with helping make it a reality.
Since then it has become a central message, from the Prime Minister to the Treasurer and Industry minister, all talking up a growing tech sector with new jobs and new wealth creation.
It is weird, then, that when the Industry department reported that the numbers of Australians employed in the tech sector is actually falling – and that the government was unlikely to meet its target – that the alarm was met with silence.
When Tech Council chair Scott Farquhar made his now infamous Press Club address in late July, it was entirely coincidental that Atlassian, the company he co-founded, had laid off a bunch of its staff on the same day, citing the efficiencies of AI.
DISR’s latest annual report reveals that the tech jobs boom that began in 2020 abruptly reversed in 2024-25, with employment falling back to near 2022-23 levels and now expected to largely stagnate through to 2030.
The Tech Council said in a statement that it believes the “tech economy continues to be one of the fastest-growing sectors in Australia” which might be true. But it’s currently shedding workers.
While the Tech Council says it remains optimistic “that the 1.2 million jobs goal by 2030 is achievable,” it did not say where that optimism comes from.
The reaction to the Industry department numbers are just strange.
The Australian Computer Society talked about working toward building the pipeline of skilled tech workers (to meet that falling demand?).
Industry minister Tim Ayres pointed to some of the successful training programs government has funded, and increased enrolment rates in TAFE digital tech courses, but did not address the falling demand.
Something is happening in the tech jobs market, but no-one is talking about it.
Other stories covered in News Wrap this week:
AI policy quagmire drags Australia to its lowest digital rank
OpenAI in eSafety’s crosshairs for teen social media ban
Youth leader Minh Hoang on AI imperialism and the loss of agency
Behind the PM’s prize: Quantum pioneer’s 20-year mission
First Ghost Shark submarine drone rolls off Sydney production line
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