High-level tech workers looking for work and accepting lower-tier jobs has seen salaries in the tech sector decline over the last year, according to a new report.

The 2025 Morgan McKinley Australian Salary Guide includes the average salaries for a range of jobs in the tech sector, along with a survey of more than 2,750 workers and 530 employers from around the world.

The report found that salaries in the tech sector are likely to remain stable this year following a “substantial industry downturn” last year that saw some of the largest tech companies in the world shedding staff.

As a result of these layoffs, a number of high-level workers were looking for new jobs, and some were forced to accept lower-level roles, leading to lower salaries in general.

“The Australian technology talent market has experienced significant shifts following a substantial industry downturn in 2024, primarily due to restructuring and layoffs that began in 2023,” the report said.

“This downturn disproportionately impacted senior-level positions, leading to an influx of highly skilled professionals re-entering the job market.

“Consequently, many senior-level candidates have accepted lower-tier roles, creating a surplus of experienced talent across levels and applying downward pressure on salaries.”

Despite these factors, salaries in tech are still above what they were before the pandemic, particularly when it comes to full-time workers, while there was a 5 per cent decrease in pay for premium and contract roles.

“The influx of senior-level candidates who were laid off during restructuring efforts and were willing to accept lower-tier roles to re-enter the workforce increased competition for these positions,” the report said.

“This, combined with the overall surplus of highly skilled talent, gave companies more leverage in negotiations.

“As a result, many candidates found themselves accepting lower salary offers than they might have received in previous years for premium and contract roles.”

The best paying tech jobs in Australia

According to the report, the highest paying tech jobs in Australia are chief information officer and chief technology officer, with a median annual wage of $250,000, and a high end of $350,000.

Other high-paying roles include data architect, with a median wage of $200,000, cloud architect ($190,000), software development managers ($180,000) and cloud platform engineers ($180,000).

At the other end of the spectrum, some of the lowest paid roles in the report are business insight analysts, who earn a median wage of $110,000 and campaigns analysts, who receive similar pay.

The report found that the top five most in-demand roles in tech are AI specialists, cloud engineers, cybersecurity specialists, full-stack software engineers and devops engineers.

This tracks with a general increase for roles focused on AI.

“This shift has led to an increased demand for data roles that blend technical expertise with ethical AI knowledge, especially as organisations address concerns around privacy, bias and transparency,” the report said.

“Despite economic uncertainties, both the technology and data analytics sectors show resilience, and the outlook for 2025 suggests continued growth, particularly for roles supporting AI and data-driven business transformations.”

A competitive jobs marketplace

Across the broader economy, salaries have also dropped compared with previous highs, with more people actively looking for new work leading to declining salary expectations, the report found.

“The availability of talent has increased, with job applications on the rise,” it said.

“However, many companies have adopted a direct sourcing model, overwhelming internal talent teams with the volume of applications.

“This high workload challenges maintaining a positive candidate experience and efficiently selecting the right talent.”

This has resulted in an increasing number of Australia job hunters being ghosted by their prospective employer or recruiter, with more than half of respondents to a LinkedIn survey saying they had not heard back at least once.

According to another report earlier this year, tech workers are among the highest paid in Australia, and earn $20 more per hour than the average employee.