Tech workers’ data with destiny

Analysis shows that data analysts, researchers and specialist engineers are dominating the nation’s 25 ‘emerging occupations’.

Angela Cibiras is one of the ‘new-age’ digital employees, working from home as a Microsoft cloud solution architect. Picture: Sean Davey

Australia’s shift to a post-COVID-19 digital economy will fundamentally change the jobs landscape, with new National Skills Commission analysis showing that data analysts, researchers and specialist engineers are dominating the nation’s 25 “emerging occupations”.

As Scott Morrison prioritises the re-skilling of Australians and support for emerging industries to drive jobs growth, an NSC ­report released on Wednesday warns of the urgent need to “adapt and learn new skills” in response to the pandemic-induced ­recession.

“The current COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for businesses to change their service offerings and adapt to new technology to keep them connected, working safely and operational,” the NSC Emerging Occupations report says.

“The NSC has developed a data-driven approach to identify emerging occupations within Australia.

“By identifying emerging skills and looking at how these skills change existing jobs, we are able to identify emerging or new jobs in the labour market.”

The emerging jobs list, prepared with the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Burning Glass Technologies, includes health biostatisticians, social media specialists, data architects and analysts, wind turbine technicians, energy auditors, risk analysts and agile coaches.

Median weekly wages for the “new-age jobs” range from up to $3215 for user experience analysts and $2366 for data engineers to ­almost $2000 for wind turbine technicians.

Employment and Skills Min­ister Michaelia Cash said: “What we are seeing is the blueprint of the new economy that will emerge on the other side of COVID-19.

“This data is valuable because it enables Australians to make ­informed decisions about their ­future, so they can upskill and ­re-skill into sectors that are actively seeking employees,” Senator Cash told The Australian.

 

“We have said time and again, the way we work is changing. And inevitably, the complexion of the economy is changing.

“We are more connected than ever before — able to work, negotiate and trade with people across the country and the globe, and these new occupations are showing that.”

Senator Cash said the NSC new occupations list not only provided “an idea of what people can train for in the future” but also where the economy was headed.

Angela Cibiras, a Microsoft cloud solution architect, said the digital economy was driving new opportunities across the fast-evolving tech sector.

“One of the industry trends we’ve observed is the increased need for data architects and data engineers.

“What we’re hearing from our customers is that a key focus is bringing together data from siloed environments to become data-driven organisations,” Ms Cibiras told The Australian.

“Bringing together the data in a reliable and performant manner underpins the insights developed by analysts and data scientists.”

Ms Cibiras said a key skill in the digital landscape was helping ­Australians “make meaningful ­decisions” through “trustworthy” data collection and analysis.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said that the government needed to ­accelerate education and training reforms, including the development of “higher-level skills programs to meet digital economy needs”.

“If Australia is to rebuild and provide access to jobs in all ­emerging and continuing industries, our education and training outcomes need to closely align with the opportunities in the ­labour market as they re-emerge,” Mr Willox said.

“The crisis has forced many companies to shift further into new technologies.

“It has created urgency around skills broadly and provides impetus to address them. But they must now be accelerated through renewed strategies and funding measures.”

The NSC report said that as technology advanced, the way businesses operated would need to change in response to ­increased automation and a globally ­competitive economy. “As the way we work changes, skill ­requirements also evolve,” the ­report said.

“By monitoring emerging jobs and other information sources on Australia’s labour market, the NSC can help ensure that ­Australians are equipped with the right tools and skills for ­emerging jobs, and help build the skilled and adaptable workforce we need now, and for years to come.”