Australia Bid to Create 1.2 Million Tech Jobs by 2030 Faces Major Setback – Implications for the Global Tech Talent Shortage

In 2022, the Tech Council of Australia (TCA), in partnership with the Australian Government Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR), set forth a bold target: to grow Australia’s technology workforce to 1.2 million workers by 2030.

The rationale was clear. Tech jobs are among the fastest-growing, highest-paid, most secure, and flexible roles in the economy. They are critical not just for the “tech sector” per se, but for all industries undergoing digital transformation (mining, banking, government, retail, services).

Behind this goal lay several key assumptions:

• That Australia would increasingly embed tech across “non-tech” sectors (the “indirect tech industry”) so the pool of tech-intensive roles would grow broadly.
• That training, reskilling, migration, and workforce pathways could be scaled to meet the rapidly rising demand.
• The structural shift toward technology in the economy would continue with minimal disruption.

In its May 2023 “Tech Jobs Update” report, the TCA stated that Australia had approximately 935,000 tech workers as of February 2023 and remained on track to hit the 1.2 million mark by 2030.
That number represented around 78 % of the target and signalled optimism at that time.

Yet, as developments in 2024 and 2025 show, the trajectory has since weakened raising serious questions about whether Australia can realistically meet its 2030 goal.

Recent Data: A Sharp Turn in the Wrong Direction

Job Decline Amid Growth Expectations

Recent data from DISR indicate that rather than continuing to expand, Australia’s tech workforce has shrunk in some segments. According to the reporting:

• The total tech workforce fell to around 949,172 roles as of May 2025.
• This represents a decline of roughly 3.7 % in the past year, even as the wider labour market grew by around 2 %.
• Notably, the biggest drop-offs were: tech roles embedded in non-tech industries (down ~3.9 %) and tech roles in direct tech companies (down ~3.6 %).
• DISR’s own assessment declared the measure “not met” and stated that the trajectory is not on track to reach the 2030 target.

Sectoral Impacts and Global Linkages

The drop-off coincides with broader global turbulence in the tech sector: job cuts at major corporates, shifting investment priorities into generative AI, cloud optimisation, and supply-chain re-engineering. In Australia’s case:

• Industries like information, media & telecommunications (down ~6.9 %), manufacturing (down ~2.3 %), and administrative services (down ~2 %) showed tech role declines.
• The slowdown suggests Australia may not merely be cooling, but entering a period of stagnation (or worse) in tech employment growth precisely when the 2030 target requires accelerating growth.

Political & Industry Reactions

• The opposition has labelled the drop a “broken promise” by the Australian Labor Party government, saying the 2030 target is now in serious jeopardy.
• The Tech Council remains hopeful but cautions that “continued collaboration between government and industry” will be needed to pull back on track.

Why the Target Mattered and Why the Under-performance Matters

Economic and Strategic Stakes

Reaching 1.2 million tech workers by 2030 was more than an employment target. It was pitched as a linchpin of Australia’s digital economy strategy. Key reasons include:

• Productivity & wage growth: tech workers tend to have higher productivity and pay, which can raise overall economic performance without triggering inflation pressures.
• Cross-sector transformation: as every industry adopts digital, cloud, AI, and automation, the need for tech talent expands far beyond “tech companies”. The TCA’s definition includes non-tech firms employing tech-intensive roles.
• Global competitiveness: With accelerations in AI, quantum, and advanced manufacturing globally, Australia’s ability to deliver tech talent is becoming a strategic differentiator. A lagging tech workforce means a weaker position in high-growth global value chains.

Signs of Risk to Strategic Ambitions

Given the recent decline in tech roles, several strategic risks become evident:

• The skills pipeline may not be scaling quickly enough (entry level, reskilling, migration).
• If non-tech industries reduce their demand for embedded tech roles (due to cost pressures or automation), the “indirect tech” jobs growth may evaporate.
• With enterprise investment patterns shifting (e.g., global tech spending cuts, AI-driven workforce optimisation), Australia’s assumption of seamless tech-worker absorption may be undermined.

In short, failing to hit the target is not merely a numbers game; it could signal structural weaknesses in how Australia builds tech capability, positions for innovation, and retains talent.

What Went Wrong: Potential Culprits and Contributing Factors

1. Macro Headwinds in Tech Employment

Even before domestic considerations, the global tech labour market has faced headwinds: job cuts at major tech firms, slower hiring, and caution around large-scale tech expansions. Australia is not immune to these trends. As one article observes, despite the AI boom, tech jobs fell 3.7 % in the year to 2025. When the broader ecosystem is trimming roles, targets based on past growth may become unattainable.

2. Training / Pathway Gaps & Talent Shortages

The 2023 TCA update already flagged key structural issues:

• Australians lack sufficient awareness of tech-job opportunities or how to get into them.
• Existing training products and pathways are not always fit for purpose (especially for non-traditional entrants, older Australians, women, and regional Australia).
• A small pool of people with experience or high-level technical skills, i.e., the talent pipeline to fill more senior tech roles, remains a bottleneck.

These issues suggest that growing the workforce from ~950,000 to 1.2 million (and beyond) won’t just happen by churn; it requires exponential improvements in pipeline, transition, retention, and upskilling.

3. Diversity, Inclusion & Regional Distribution

Diverse representation (gender, age, regional) and equitable access to tech-career pathways are critical. Without addressing these systemic inclusion issues, the tech-worker pool cannot expand sustainably. The TCA called this out explicitly.

In parallel, regional Australia continues to struggle to attract and retain tech talent compared to major metro regions, which limits national scale.

4. Misalignment Between Demand and Supply

When demand assumptions are built on past growth patterns, they may not adjust quickly enough to changed realities, e.g., automation reducing the need for certain roles, shifting business models, or firms moving offshore or to contractor models.

In Australia’s case, tech-embedded roles in non-tech industries dropped, suggesting that one of the assumed growth engines (indirect tech) may be stalling.

5. Lagging Conversion of Initiatives to Outcomes

Australia has made investments in programs (for example, Free TAFE enrolments, women in tech initiatives, migration reforms), but the translation from enrolment to employment appears slower than required. For instance:

• The Free TAFE program has had more than 65,000 enrolments in technology/digital courses since January 2023.
• Yet job numbers are contracting. This suggests a gap between training and actual job absorption or role creation.

Implications for the Global Tech Talent Picture

Australia’s struggle to meet its own tech-jobs target has broader implications for the global tech-talent ecosystem.

Talent Mobility & National Strategies

Many countries are vying to attract and retain tech talent. Australia was positioning itself as a competitive destination with high skills, a favourable lifestyle, and strategic alignment in AI/quantum. A downturn now puts that positioning at risk.

Global firms looking for talent hubs may divert to markets with stronger growth momentum (e.g., India, Southeast Asia, Latin America) if Australia cannot demonstrate consistent tech-job creation and workforce scaling.

Automation vs. Job Creation

The Australian case highlights a paradox: even as digital transformation and AI adoption accelerate, tech-job growth is not guaranteed. Automation may reduce some roles even as new ones emerge, and unless systems are designed for transition and role evolution, job numbers can decline.

Thus, it is a cautionary tale for other advanced economies that assume “tech = jobs growth”. The reality is more nuanced.

Skills Pipeline Realities

If Australia, with substantial resources, policy focus, and industry collaboration, finds it difficult to get from ~950k to 1.2 m tech jobs in less than five years, then other nations with weaker infrastructures or slower reform may struggle even more.

The global competition for tech talent will sharpen, and workforce-development strategies must be scalable, resilient to disruption, and aligned to future job types, not just existing roles.

Regional Ecosystem Effects

Australia’s tech employment declines also raise questions about how non-metro, non-traditional-tech sectors will absorb tech roles. Many countries are banking on distributed “digital economy” growth (outside capital cities or traditional tech hubs). Australia’s stalling suggests such distribution may be more challenging than assumed.

In global terms, the message is: building a national tech-workforce strategy requires more than centre-city hype, it requires systemic national logistics, education, migration, retention, and regional uplift.

What Needs to Change: Way Forward for Australia

To salvage the 1.2 million target and turn the narrative around, Australia must adopt a multi-pronged, accelerated strategy. Key elements include:

1. Strengthen and Expand Training & Pathways

• Expand vocational, TAFE, and university programs aligned tightly with employer needs and emergent roles (AI, cloud native, cybersecurity, quantum).
• Develop scalable reskilling and upskilling programs for incumbent workers, older Australians, regional talent, and non-traditional entrants.
• Simplify entry-to-employment pipelines, including apprenticeships, work experience, internships, micro-credentials, and bridging courses.

2. Improve Retention and Transition

• Address the drop-out/leakage issues: tech workers who leave for other fields, fail to convert training into roles, or are under-utilised in roles that don’t fully leverage their skills.
• Foster career-lifecycle supports mentoring, progression routes, pay equity, and regional incentives.
• Ensure companies embed retention incentives and an inclusive culture (diversity, flexible work), which help reduce turnover and increase representation.

3. Real‐Time Demand Forecasting & Skills Matching

• Strengthen partnerships between industry, government, and education to continuously monitor what roles are emerging, which skills are in short supply, and match training supply accordingly. The TCA’s 2023 update flagged this explicitly.
• Use data analytics to predict not only roles needed today, but those in five years (AI agents, platform engineers, hybrid cloud-AI roles) and build supply accordingly.

4. Boost Diversity & Regional Inclusion

• Set clear targets and accountability mechanisms for gender, age, regional, Indigenous, and other underrepresented groups in tech.
• Incentivise companies to hire in regional Australia, offer remote-friendly roles, and provide relocation or connectivity support.
• Launch awareness campaigns aimed at non-traditional tech pools (women, mid-career changers, regional high-school leavers) to broaden the talent funnel. The TCA report identified awareness and representation as key barriers.

5. Align Migration Strategy with Skills Needs

• Faster, more agile, skilled migration pathways for high-demand tech roles (especially senior, experienced technical staff) could help fill immediate gaps while local pipelines scale.
• But migration must be complementary, not substitutional the local talent base must still grow to ensure sustainable workforce depth.

6. Promote Job Creation & Demand Side Incentives

• Supporting industry demand for tech roles is equally important. Government and industry must stimulate the adoption of technology across sectors so tech talent has roles to fill. For example, programmes encouraging AI adoption, advanced manufacturing, and digital transformation.
• Incentivise companies to expand their tech teams locally rather than outsource or offshore.
• Track and publish outcomes: roles created, training conversions, employment flows, to hold stakeholders accountable.

Can the 1.2 Million Target Still Be Met?

At present, the numbers suggest the target is in jeopardy. Australia has just under 950,000 tech workers as of mid-2025 and is experiencing a contraction rather than a growth surge. Meeting a goal of 1.2 million by 2030 would require adding roughly 250,000 more tech workers over the next ~5 years, a renewal of growth at ~50,000/year net after retirements and churn. Yet the recent trend is negative.
That said, it is not impossible, but it would require the following:

• A sharp reversal in employment trends (from decline to growth)
• A ramp-up of training/reskilling programmes far above current levels
• A significant increase in job creation across sectors, absorbing tech talent
• Strong retention, minimal leakage of talent, and effective use of migration

If Australia fails to arrest the slide and instead continues to lose tech roles or grow them slowly, the target will become aspirational rather than realistic. For policymakers, this is now a moment for urgency, not complacency.

Key Takeaways for Stakeholders

For Policy Makers

• The target of 1.2 million tech workers by 2030 remains a strategic lever not just for jobs, but for national competitiveness, digital sovereignty, and economic resilience.
• The recent data demand a response: slower growth or decline in tech roles demands policy recalibration, not just more of the same.
• Transparent metrics and outcome-tracking will be critical to regain trust and show progress.

For Industry & Employers

• Demand for tech talent persists, but firms must invest in local pipelines, upskilling current staff, and inclusive hiring if the ecosystem is to scale.
• Offshoring or outsourcing tech roles may ease immediate cost pressures, but it deprives the national ecosystem of job creation.
• Firms stand to benefit from closer collaboration with training providers, government-led transition programmes, and community awareness campaigns.

For Educators & Training Providers

• There is a clear need to align curricula with emergent tech demands (AI, cybersecurity, cloud-native, quantum) and with pathways that feed into real jobs.
• Vocational and micro-credentials will play an increasing role traditional degree-only approaches are insufficient to scale fast.
• Partnerships with industry to ensure work experience and job conversion must be deepened.

For Tech Workers & Aspirants

• Despite the downturn, tech roles remain high value, high pay and high growth (over the long term). Australia still offers opportunities, but competition and expectations are increasing.
• Transitioning into tech (from non-tech backgrounds) and upskilling in emerging fields will provide the best prospects.
• Stay alert to evolving role definitions (fractional, remote, hybrid) and build skills in automation, AI, data, and cloud infrastructure rather than purely legacy tech.

Conclusion: A Crucial Inflection Point

Australia’s aspiration to grow its tech workforce to 1.2 million by 2030 was ambitious but rooted in clear economic logic. Tech jobs deliver productivity, high wages, and competitive advantage — and Australia has the foundational pieces (strong universities, government support, industry interest) to succeed.

What is now clear, however, is that the trajectory has reversed or stalled. Tech roles are contracting, demand in non-tech sectors is falling, and the “pipeline to 2030” is less certain. The recent data send a warning: setting targets is easy, achieving them under shifting global conditions is hard.

If Australia wishes to remain in the front rank of global technology economies, the next 18-24 months must be about action: ramping training, boosting job creation, strengthening retention, and ensuring the momentum returns. The window is narrowing.

Whether the 1.2 million mark is hit is uncertain but what is not uncertain is the risk of falling behind. Fixing the tech-jobs pipeline now is less about hitting a numerical target and more about securing Australia’s digital future.