Australia's job market is characterised by a series of complicated trends, starting from an uneven job distribution across different territories to job growth disparities between the public and private sectors. Since 2022, when the Labour Party under Prime Minister Alabanese assumed office, there has been a significant increase in government spending on wages and public-sector job benefits, which, by 2024, stimulated a significant growth in the respective sector job growth – 7.6% according to Deloitte estimates and 3.6% according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). At the same time, the private sector has been showing signs of stagnation, with job opportunities steadily declining. As of May 2024, the decline rate stood at 4.9% and is projected to decline even further while the public sector vacancies continue to increase.
Besides, the job market is characterised by dire talent shortages across several industries, including one of the fastest-growing segments worldwide, IT. There have been some attempts to address the latter by simplifying migration policies while still prioritising local talent – a somewhat contradictory policy that, so far, has brought no tangible results. On the other hand, there is some room for restrained optimism since the unemployment rate, which has been fluctuating between 3.4% and 4.2% in the last two years, seemed to have finally stabilised at 4.1%.
While private job opportunities have shown a predictable decline due to increased government spending on the public sector, the private market still has some enticing career opportunities to offer, as shown by research in the area. Below is the combined analysis of the most in-demand jobs in Australia, reflecting both private and public job opportunities in 2024 and providing an informed outlook on the job market trends for 2025.
Cybersecurity experts
Even though ABS does not collect separate data on cybersecurity experts, roughly categorising them as ‘professional, scientific, and technical services,’ the pressing demand for cybersecurity specialists is evident through the growing number of cyber-attacks. Notably, cybersecurity is one of the few IT fields actively supported by the Australian government and one of the brightest industry examples of where public and private interests seem to overlap, as exemplified by a $2 billion government initiative to migrate intelligence data to private cloud servers.
Healthcare professionals
In the last two years, the Australian healthcare sector saw a 21% job increase, with some areas, including Social Assistance, growing by almost 50%. The trend is supported not only by increased government spending but also by the changing demographics, especially when geriatric care is concerned. However, the shortage of qualified nurses is evident in all healthcare segments, not only in senior care, with several sources predicting a further shortage of at least 100,000 qualified nurses by 2025.
Data engineers
Another bright example of a private sector vacancy in high demand, and even though official ABS statistics for data engineers are still lacking, this occupation is one of the top on-the-rise careers in this decade. In late 2024, vacancies for data engineers in Australia varied from 1000+ on LinkedIn to 4000+ on dedicated Australian job boards. Notably, IT is not the only industry in dire need of data engineers – since most businesses rely on data-driven decisions today, data analysts are needed across different sectors, including administration, logistics, finance, sales, etc.
Digital marketing professionals
Digital marketing is another promising occupation, with thousands of vacancies open on SEEK and LinkedIn. This data is also supported by private research of the 10 in-demand jobs in Australia in 2024, conducted by a recruiting database, SignalHire. The platform is a database of contacts primarily used by recruiters and business developers that supports bulk search via its desktop version and an individual contact search via a browser extension. In its analysis, SignalHire calculated the combined history of candidate searches made in Australia and, according to its overview of private-market vacancies, sales professionals rank seventh on the list of in-demand 2024 jobs, preceded by a series of managerial positions, mostly in the IT sphere.
Construction workers
Active government investment in public infrastructures has led to a rapid increase in job opportunities, which the local talent pool is simply unable to cover. Labour shortages are especially dire in the residential construction sectors, especially among electricians and technicians. To alleviate this situation, government support programs are offered to foreign citizens – for example, New Zealand workers can count on a $10,000 relocation grant if they have the skills necessary for the construction sector.
Renewable energy specialists
Another public sector experiencing a huge boom, along with a huge talent shortage. The latest Energy Industry Jobs Plan presupposes $134+ million in funding for renewable energy projects, yet skilled technicians are still lacking. Once again, skilled migration programs come in; however, the need to support the local population remains. Additional funds have been allocated to stimulate the manufacturing of domestic solar panels, and despite pressing talent shortages, Australia has already achieved significant progress in this field – in 2023, 35% of electricity generation came from renewable sources.
Mental health professionals
Besides the shortage of physical healthcare professionals, Australia has a dire need for mental health specialists. The trend has persisted for years, with the most noticeable increase of 40% in psychologists and psychiatrists occupations between 2016 and 2022. However, even such an increase in professional numbers has not fully addressed the shortage because, in 2024, the demand for mental health professionals is still high.
Education and training experts
Education is another rapidly developing public sector that has seen a 3.8% job increase compared to the past year and is projected to show further growth before the decade is over. The positive development is largely due to the increased government funding, as well as the lack of qualified personnel in multiple industries, including the ones discussed above. This, in turn, necessitates new government initiatives to support education programs, especially in market segments with the highest talent shortages.
Hospitality staff
Another sector experiencing a revival, even if slower than most other industries on this list, needs qualified workers to ensure further growth. Notably, the Australian hospitality industry faces other challenges besides human talent shortage. The most obvious ones are decreased consumer spending and post-COVID disruptions in supply chains that have not been fully mended. At the same time, ABS predicts steady growth for the hospitality industry, with the most employment opportunities in the food and accommodation segment – up to 12.4%, according to early 2024 estimates.
Currently, job opportunities in the Australian public sector certainly show more promise, and the trend will likely persist – at least for as long as the Labor Party is in office. While the increased government spending on the public sector certainly has multiple benefits for the economy, in the long run, it is unwise to ignore private sector development – a steadier economy driver, especially in this age of digitalisation and transformation of businesses through AI and robotics.
Should the simplified migration policies finally take form, as expected, an influx of skilled professionals could become a real game-changer for the private sector, especially for the IT and IT-adjacent industries, including sales and marketing. A more balanced job distribution between the public and private job sectors is certainly a goal to aspire to and the main challenge the Australian economy will need to address in the near future.
