Australia’s near-insatiable need for foreign skilled workers could be alleviated by allowing students to stay longer than two years, as well as creating more flexible office practices made possible by the pandemic, said three top human resources tech specialists.

With around 860,000 people in the country engaged in some kind of technology job – a figure set to rise to one million by 2025 and 1.2 million by 2030 – software engineering is now a more common job than hairdressing or plumbing, said Tech Council of Australia chief executive office Kate Pounder.