The South Australian tech workforce outpaced the rest of the nation during the COVID pandemic but will lag the rest of the nation over the next five years.
That's according to the ACS Australia's Digital Pulse 2021 report, which was launched in South Australia this week with local branch chair Chris Radbone and ACS President Dr Ian Oppermann welcoming David Pisoni MP, state minister for Innovation and Skills.
The report found South Australia’s IT sector workforce currently numbers 34,761 people, up by just over a thousand from 2019, a growth rate of 5.8%.
However, that rate is forecast to slow to 4.6% per annum over the next five years, below the national predicted increase of 5.4%.
ACS President Dr Ian Oppermann said South Australia’s technology workforce did well during the pandemic, however the state’s sector is forecast to lag the rest of the nation.
“South Australia has some unique tech initiatives including the Australian Space Agency, the impressive Lot14 – which itself includes the space-propulsion developer Neumann Space – and the Australian Institute of Machine Learning (AIML).
"It will be important grow the state’s technology workforce to maximise the benefits offered by these initiatives.
“With advances in fields like machine learning and workplace automation, industry and government will see increased reliance on IT professionals in coming years, so we would like to see SA at the same levels as the rest of the country.”
