Higher salaries, but worker shortage in Australia’s STEM industries

Pay rises are being offered to Aussie workers with a particular set of skills that have become increasingly in demand. See if you’re eligible.

Aussie workers with advanced digital skills are paid 24 per cent more than their tech-challenged colleagues.

Even intermediate digital skills are enough to increase earnings by 16 per cent, reveals a study by Gallup, in collaboration with Amazon Web Services.

But the higher salaries are failing to address an alarming shortage of STEM workers, despite the study showing the necessary skills can be gained in a variety of ways and that “digital certification or training courses are acceptable substitutes for a degree”.

With predictions that STEM professionals will make up three-quarters of the nation’s workforce within the next two years, experts are calling for more people to train for roles within the science and technology sectors, amid promises of lifelong financial security.

‘Smart choice’

STEM skills are applicable across a broad range of industries, providing a multitude of career opportunities, Datacom people and culture director Siobhan Gallacher says.

“Technology is critical in every sector so building skills in areas like cloud, cybersecurity or software development means you can apply those skills in any field that interests you, whether that is education or medicine or a sector that is not even on our radar right now,” she says.

“STEM skills are increasingly in demand so, for people looking at skill sets that will serve them well into the future, science, tech, engineering and maths have been – and will continue to be – smart choices.”

She agrees that university is “definitely not” the only pathway into a STEM career, with many skills able to be gained through on-the-job learning, supported by short courses.

More diversity is needed in STEM careers, experts say.

Datacom recently launched a virtual learning platform, designed to give high school students and early career starters an opportunity to experience what tech careers look like.

The free-to-use platform has already had more than 9400 enrolments and “those who perform well may be shoulder tapped for employment opportunities,” Gallacher says.

Traineeships and cadetships are also available.

Gallacher says as well as the technical capabilities required for STEM careers, there is also a need for humanities skills.

“We can’t overlook the softer aspects of STEM skills such as critical thinking, creativity and logic,” she says. “It is our capacity for compassion, curiosity and creativity, along with our intellectual capabilities, that will not only create the right solutions for the future but the right working environments to inspire them from.”

Diversity needed

There are fears women and First Nations Australians will miss out on lucrative opportunities in STEM unless targeted initiatives attract more diversity to the sector.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders currently constitute “close to zero per cent of the tech industry”, according to not-for-profit Indigitek, which has partnered with payment transfer company Block’s Cash App to create an engineering scholarship program for First Nations people.

Cash App head of engineering Tom Adams hopes a more diverse range of workers will address labour shortages and better represent consumers.

“There’s an immense amount of opportunity (in STEM), even if you are not studying in a tech-based degree or at university,” he says.

LinkedIn marketing solutions ANZ director Amy Mills says the fact just 14 per cent of Australian women are employed in the sector, compared to 29 per cent of men, is also a concern.

While women are graduating with STEM degrees, there’s a 17 per cent drop out rate in these graduates entering the workforce, mainly due to non-inclusive hiring practises, Mills says.

“Australia has one of the widest gaps (in the Asia Pacific region) when it comes to women’s representation in the STEM workforce,” she says.

“We are certainly making strides towards improvement but … there’s still an opportunity to look at how we hire.”

Josh Towney has transitioned from working in retail to an engineering role.

‘Huge pond’

Josh Towney always had an interest in technology. But with no desire for further study, he went straight from school to a job in retail, where he spent the next two decades.

With encouragement from his wife, Towney last year became the first successful candidate of the Indigitek scholarship, having completed a three-month software engineering bootcamp, followed by a six-month Cash App internship.

Towney was subsequently offered a full-time engineering role with Cash App’s Melbourne-based team, where he enjoys far greater financial security than he experienced in retail and has unlimited opportunities to progress his new career.

“That (bootcamp) was when I knew that this was the career for me,” he says.

“I’m very resistant to change normally. I thought I was too old to try (something new) but I really wasn’t and … now I think about how much time I’ve wasted.

“(Cash App) have really looked after me and I’m happy to learn – I’m still a small fish in a huge pond.”

The digital skills that pay:

• Advanced digital skills – cloud architecture and maintenance, software or application development, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

• Intermediate digital skills – drag-and-drop website design, troubleshooting applications, data analysis.

Source: AWS Gallup Australia Digital Skills Study 2023

Originally published as Higher salaries, but worker shortage in Australia’s STEM industries