Australians are significantly more likely to apply for jobs in different industries following the COVID-19 pandemic, while tech workers are more likely to stay in the same space, according to new LinkedIn data.

The LinkedIn jobs market data looked at how the Australian jobs market has grown and adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying three key areas of change.

The data shows that many workers will be looking to reskill and change industries, with the tech sector emerging as a growth area for new hires.

It found that job seekers in the country are 1.4 times more likely to now apply for jobs in different industries than their current one.

Unsurprisingly, this was intensified for recreational and travel workers, who are five times more likely to apply for jobs outside that sector, while those in the consumer goods and education industries are about 1.4 times more likely to do so than previously.

While many workers in other industries are looking for change, those in the hardware and networking space are 1.4 times more likely to apply for jobs within the same industry, along with workers in the healthcare and transportation and logistics space.

The government recently unveiled a new focus on incentivising Australians to undertake IT university courses, with costs to drop by 20 percent under significant higher education funding reforms announced last week.

If the Australian economy is to effectively rebound after the coronavirus crisis, an effort will have to be made to ensure workers are able to switch industries seamlessly and efficiently, LinkedIn Australia senior director of APAC talent solutions Adam Gregory said.

“Hiring is stabilising in Australia as movement restrictions begin to relax, however it will likely take some time before we get back to the levels of hiring growth we saw before the pandemic hit,” Gregory said.

“A big part of the labour market recovery will be transitioning workers from industries that have been hard hit by the crisis into new and different roles. This is already in process, with new LinkedIn data showing that the average worker is nearly one and a half times more likely to be looking for a job outside of their current industry.”

Industries worst hit by the COVID-19 restrictions are seeing even higher rates of exodus, Gregory said.

“This is a lot higher in industries that have been brought to a halt during lockdown, such as recreation and travel, with workers more than five times more likely to be looking to swap industries. Entertainment and consumer goods industries are also higher than average for industry transition currently.”

The data relates to LinkedIn statistics from 11 February to 5 June this year.

The data also reflected the huge impact the pandemic has had on Australia’s education sector, with workers showing the lowest confidence in believing their income would increase in the next six months. Only 10 percent of those in the education sector said they did, compared with an average of 27 percent.

“Despite workplace confidence remaining stable, those in education are trending slightly down, driven by decreases in this group’s career outlook confidence,” the report said.

“Despite this, education professions are not concerned about job security, showing that they’re comfortable their positions have longevity, but they are continually less confident about their personal finances and career outlook.”

The data also showed that Millennials and Gen Z are most confident that their financial situation will improve in the next six months, and were the most likely to say that their investments and personal spending will increase in that time.

LinkedIn data also recently revealed what Australians were learning during the tougher restrictions in recent months that left them stuck at home, with a focus on remote learning, collaborative technologies and mindfulness.