A rapidly growing economy and no one to fill the demand: RMIT expert on Australia’s skills shortage in the technology sector.

Karin Verspoor, Executive Dean School of Computing Technologies (0478 408 290 or karin.verspoor@rmit.edu.au)

Topics: Technology sector, IT, skills shortages, re-skilling, computing, tech jobs, diversity in tech. 

“There is a massive skills shortage in the technology sector – requiring nearly a doubling of our tech workforce before 2030 to drive economic growth and ensure that Australia remains at the leading edge. 

“We will not achieve this with our current approach, focused on attracting school leavers to study IT/Computing.”

“Technology is central to our daily lives today as like never before, and critical to our future and competitiveness as a nation in the global economy.”  

“The opportunities in technology are huge, with tech jobs being amongst the most well-paid, stable and flexible jobs in the Australian economy.   

“It's estimated an additional 650,000 tech workers will be needed in Australia alone by the end of the decade, and this demand will continue to rapidly grow.” 

“We need to broaden the pool of people that see technology as an attractive and fulfilling career option. This includes reskilling more women to join the tech workforce and increasing the diversity of people that we welcome into the sector, and that we train in our TAFEs and universities.”  

“We need to set up pathways that allow people to move into IT/Computing in mid-career, or with non-traditional backgrounds. We need programs that expose more people to the opportunities in technology and spark a passion in them to learn more.” 

“The tech industry needs be more welcoming to a diverse range of workers by recognising the value of diversity in all forms, and shaping teams to include people with different skills, experiences, and perspectives.  

“A commitment to (and accountability for) diversity from leadership, transparent tracking of diversity through tools, and providing support for diverse employees will make a huge difference.”  

Karin Verspoor is a computer scientist with experience across US start-ups during the late 90s tech bubble, national laboratories including the US Los Alamos National Laboratory and NICTA (now Data61) Victoria Research Lab, as well as several universities. As a woman in technology for over 3 decades, Verspoor is an advocate for diversity in tech. She is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Digital Health, the Victoria node lead of the Australian Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, a 2021 Brilliant Woman in Digital Health, a finalist in the 2022 Women in AI awards, AI in Innovation category, and winner of several TechDiversity awards.

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Interviews: Karin Verspoor, 0478 408 290 or karin.verspoor@rmit.edu.au

General media enquiries: RMIT Communications, 0439 704 077 or news@rmit.edu.au