Tech jobs are the third-fastest growing in the country, with nearly 33,000 new jobs created in the last three years, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The ABS has tracked the growth and decline of jobs and industries in Australia on a quarterly basis for more than 30 years. The Australian recently collated these statistics, revealing which jobs are most in demand and which occupations should be avoided, focusing on the last three years.

It found that software and applications programmers have rapidly increased in Australia since 2016, with nearly 33,000 jobs added, equating to a 32 per cent rise.

While programming jobs are on the rise, the stats also showed that ICT manager jobs are in decline, with a near-7,000 reduction in roles over the last three years, equating to 13 per cent of the overall jobs.

The figures come amid fierce debate in Australia over the growing skills gap in Australia and how best to address this.

Focus has been given to encouraging students to pursue STEM studies to address the pipeline, and improved skilled immigration to fill the gaps in the short-term.

The impact of technological disruption and automation is also reflected in jobs stats, which show a number of roles that have been in decline over the last three years.

While sales assistant is the most common job in Australia, the ABS figures show that the number of these roles has fallen by 126,174 from 2016 to 2019, likely as a result of the automation of much of the sales process and the ever-growing popularity of online shopping.

In contrast, the fastest growing job in the country is checkout operator or office cashier. This shows that while supermarkets have rapidly rolled out self check-out technology, other retail offerings have reduced the number of floor staff but placed an increased emphasis on the checkout process.

More than 90,000 new jobs have been created in these roles in the last three years, according to the ABS figures.

But the imminent arrival of automated technology for the checkout process across the retail sector may see this role also be in decline in the coming years.

The collated figures show that a number of jobs that are commonly seen to be safe from automation and technological disruption may still be in danger. Nursing support and personal care workers are often regarded as being safe from automation due to them being unpredictable and interactive roles, but they have seen a 10 percent decline since 2016, with 10,000 jobs disappearing in this time.

With the rise of automation and the imminent arrival of artificial intelligence and machine learning, Australians need to be prepared to continue to learn and adapt throughout their careers, WithYouWithMe CEO Tom Larter said.

“Jobs are changing so fast, you need to get into your first job and then use lifelong learning to build out your skills,” Larter told news.com.au.