Developer Jobs Amongst Australia’s 10 Most In-Demand Professions

Developer jobs may have once been niche roles that were little understood, but now software and applications programmers, web developers, and ICT business and systems analysts are amongst some of the most in-demand professionals in Australia.

If someone asks you if there is a demand for developers in Australia, then the answer is definitely, “Yes!”

According to recent reports from the Australian Computer Society (ACS), the National Skills Commission and The Sydney Morning Herald, these professionals have well and truly taken their place alongside more traditional in-demand roles including civil engineering professionals, registered nurses and electricians; with job growth only expected to increase over the next five years.

Developer Jobs on Australia’s National Skills Shortage List

According to the ACS, web developers, database admins, and business analysts have just been added to the list of some of the most in-demand roles in the country.

The ACS article looked at the National Skills Commission’s 2022 Skills Priority List and found that ten new IT roles had been added to the list. The newly added jobs included:

• Analyst Programmer
• Computer Network and Systems Engineer
• Database Administrator
• ICT Business Analyst
• ICT Systems Test Engineer
• ICT Quality Assurance Engineer
• Network Administrator
• Network Analyst
• Systems Analyst
• Web Developer

We simply don’t have the tech talent needed to fill the roles available in Australia. This is something that has been noted before by Scott Farquhar, co-founder and co-CEO of software company Atlassian.

“There are still more tech jobs out there than there are people to fill them,” Farquhar has said.

Programmers Amongst Top 10 In-Demand Professions

Following an analysis of the Skills Priority List, data on job vacancies and projected growth in employment over the next five years, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that ICT business and systems analysts and software and applications programmers made up two of the top ten in-demand professions for the next five years.

While the article focused on skilled migration as a means to plug the skills gap, there are other ways to ensure Australia has the developers and technology workers it needs for the future.

Can Australia Fill Vacant Developer Roles?

Just because there is a skills shortage, doesn’t mean it’s easy to walk into a job. There may be a high demand for developers, but this demand is for developers with the right skills. And this doesn’t always mean years of experience. It could mean someone with transferable skills, outstanding soft skills or a proven ability to learn the skills required for the job.

ACS CEO Chris Vein believes that Australia needs to look to untapped sources of talent when it comes to creating the tech workforce that our country needs.

“One of the quickest ways of addressing our skills shortage is harnessing our national assets, particularly Australia’s educated, flexible and diverse workforce, through upskilling workers and boosting the industry’s diversity,” Vein says.

This approach was thankfully backed by the Government’s recent announcements following the Jobs and Skills Summit, with the promise of generous joint Federal-State funding for education of Australian workers in in-demand areas.

Here at Coder Academy, we have long believed that career changers can make great developers. By bringing skills and knowledge from previous roles into the tech space, career changers help improve diversity while proving to be flexible and adaptable workers.

Career changers are also adept at learning new skills as needed – something that remains necessary for developers throughout their careers. If you’re searching for a career in a growing industry, then a developer role might just be for you.