Tech Council opens tech talent forum to all industries, not just tech companies
The Tech Council of Australia (TCA) has launched its Partners Forum, an initiative that aims to address Australia’s tech talent shortage.
The Tech Council of Australia (TCA) has launched its Partners Forum, an initiative that aims to address Australia’s tech talent shortage. It is designed to support increased technology adoption across sectors, meaning SMEs and startups that employ tech roles can benefit.
According to the TCA, 62% of Australia’s tech workforce is employed outside traditional tech industries. Sectors such as retail, mining and banking are increasingly relying on technology to improve day-to-day operations as well as increase efficiency and productivity.
The Partners Forum aims to foster collaboration between companies in these sectors and other industries to build tech talent pipelines and drive responsible adoption.
The initiative brings together large Australian organisations such as Commonwealth Bank, NBN Co, and Herbert Smith Freehills to collaborate on key tech issues.
These will include the rapid rise of AI, growing cybersecurity threats, and the need for skilled tech workers.
Richard White, CEO of WiseTech and a TCA board director, said more organisations need to engage in tech workforce development.
“Tech jobs aren’t confined to the pure tech players. More than half of tech workers are employed in jobs and organisations that stretch across the broader economy including in retail, banking, mining and professional services,” White said.
“The Tech Council Partners Forum is an important platform to foster collaboration and innovation across all organisations, regardless of industry.”
The forum will build on existing initiatives such as WiseTech’s Earn and Learn program. This provides students with paid, on-the-job software engineering experience while they complete their degrees.
The TCA has also run the national Virtual Work Experience Program, which has been accessed by over 2,000 learners in career paths including data science, software engineering and cybersecurity.
The program aims to support the development of Australia’s tech workforce by creating more practical learning opportunities.
Again, the Partners Forum isn’t just for traditional ‘tech’ companies. It’s open to all organisations that demonstrate a real push towards tech adoption.
It provides opportunities for businesses to participate in working groups and collaborate on technology policy, workforce development and investment in innovation.
Our take: We still need more diversity in tech jobs
While encouraging the development of more tech jobs is crucial — for both young Australians as well as those engaging in mid-career pivots — we still need to address the diversity problem across the sector.
The Australian government has also set a goal of achieving 1.2 million tech jobs by 2030.
According to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR), as of May 2023, the numbers were sitting at 930,000.
Drilling in deeper, the TCA itself has predicted AI could lead to 200,000 jobs in Australia by 2030 — but only if dire skill shortages are addressed.
This leaves a great deal of opportunity for diversification, particularly when women only make up 28% of the IT workforce in Australia.
It’s also a great opportunity to foster more support for people getting into tech jobs through pathways such as TAFE.
The need for programs that support and foster tech skills — particularly for women and people-of-colour (POC) — has become all the more needed with the recent closure of programs such as Boosting Female Founders, Women Who Code and Girls in Tech.
Considering that the federal is announcing a higher-than-expected federal surplus this week — let’s hope we see more funds trickle into growing a tech sector that is filled with more women, POC, and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
As the TCA’s CEO, Damian Kassabgi, said to SmartCompany recently, to grow Australia’s tech force more needs to be done.
“That doesn’t come for free. That comes with re-skilling, that comes with education, that comes with a concerted effort to make sure that our workforce is ready for it,” Kassabgi said.
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