Australia is in the grip of a national workforce crisis, with persistent labour shortages hampering essential services, slowing economic growth and creating knock-on effects across nearly every industry.
While much of the public focus has been on critical gaps in healthcare, aged care and early childhood education, new analysis reveals that Australia is also facing severe shortfalls in finance, technology and business roles — sectors that underpin the country’s economic productivity.
To address the scale and urgency of the challenge, the Future Skills Organisation (FSO) has released a new report, Workforce Plan 2025: Pathways to Impact, which outlines a national strategy to support the transition to a more digitally capable workforce.
“Emerging technologies are reshaping the nature of work across Australia’s finance, technology, and business sectors,” FSO chief executive Patrick Kidd said.
“Digital capability and AI literacy are now fundamental across all industries. Our education and training system must keep pace to ensure more Australians are equipped with the skills they need to thrive.
“We must deepen partnerships between industry and training providers and invest in skills solutions which can be delivered at scale to benefit learners and employers.”
The Workforce Plan finds that Australia’s current training pipeline is unlikely to meet projected workforce needs by the end of the decade, with significant shortfalls anticipated across core professional roles. Technology jobs represent the largest share of the gap, followed by finance and business.
To close this gap, the report highlights four strategic priorities:
- Strengthening skills-based pathways to ensure clearer, faster routes from training to employment
- Embedding digital capability at every level, including foundational literacy and advanced technical skills
- Enabling learner-centred education through more flexible, responsive delivery models
- Positioning diversity as a deliberate strategy to build stronger and more inclusive talent pipelines
The report also highlights the importance of reskilling and upskilling, especially for mid-career Australians looking to transition into high-demand roles. At the same time, completions in vocational and higher education are declining, and attrition remains a key concern across both training and employment.
FSO has launched a set of publicly accessible Workforce Dashboards to complement the report, offering real-time data and modelling to help employers, educators and policymakers plan more effectively for the future of work.
“These priorities have shaped our program of work — designed to close urgent skills gaps quickly, deliver impact at scale, and help build a future-fit workforce,” Mr Kidd said.
The Workforce Plan has drawn strong support from industry and workforce representatives, who warn that without urgent, system-wide changes, Australia risks falling behind its international peers.
“Future Skills Organisation’s Workforce Plan highlights the urgent need to tackle Australia’s workforce shortfall head-on,” Australian Council of Trade Unions assistant secretary Liam O’Brien said. “A projected shortfall of almost 250,000 skilled finance, tech and business workers by 2030 is a clear call to action.
“High staff turnover is a challenge and should drive a focus on improving retention across industries. It’s an opportunity to lift job quality, build stronger career pathways, and align training more closely with workers’ needs. Closing the skills gap means investing in people — ensuring every worker has the opportunity to grow, adapt, and thrive in a changing economy.”
With one in five Australians currently employed in finance, technology and business services, the report positions these sectors as both an opportunity and a risk. Done well, building workforce capability in these domains can drive economic growth, innovation and competitiveness. Left unaddressed, the shortfall could act as a drag on national resilience and public service delivery.
View FSO’s Workforce Plan 2025: Pathways to Impact report here and Workforce Dashboards here.
This article was produced by InnovationAus.com in partnership with the Future Skills Organisation.
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