Industry partnerships aim to tackle chronic tech skills shortage
Each year for the past eight years, an annual survey of the technology sector by Deloitte Access Economics and the Australian Computer Society has found the same problem is holding back the tech industry.
“A single story has bubbled to the top every time,” says Nick Tate, the society’s president. “The need for a better pipeline of technology workers.”
The numbers tell the story. Australia’s technology workforce reached a record 870,300 last year and is expected to exceed 1 million next year and to swell to 1.2 million by 2027. Yet only about 7000 students are graduating each year with IT degrees. The biggest shortage of skills is centred around software knowledge.
The government’s plan to overcome the shortfall of tech workers has three prongs: more IT graduates, more tech-savvy immigrants and reskilling workers. That’s where tech microcredentials fit into the picture.
Sydney University deputy vice chancellor, education, Joanne Wright.
“Having up-to-date skills is critical in a rapidly changing world,” says Joanne Wright, the University of Sydney’s deputy vice chancellor, education. “As new industries develop, new technologies emerge and new categories of jobs are created, universities are perfectly placed to partner with learners throughout their careers.”
The University of Sydney offers tech-focused microcredentials including an “AI fluency sprint” developed with Deloitte. The course looks at the opportunities and challenges of AI for business and has evolved to include emerging developments such as ChatGPT and generative AI more broadly.
The university also offers microcredentials tailored for the logistics and supply chain businesses that have a tech bent, including trends in AI and data science of supply strategies.
“We are engaging with industry and government so students and workers get the best of the best to blend theory and cutting-edge practice in a way that is relevant for people’s careers right now,” says Wright.
Other universities have similar tech offerings. The Department of Education’s MicroCred Seeker site, which allows people to find and compare microcredentials, lists 83 technology, engineering and IT courses offered by 16 higher-education providers.
Among the tech micro-offerings, the University of Melbourne provides Adaptability for AI, Cybersecurity: Technologies for Defence and Blockchain, and Smart Contract Fundamentals among 26 tech microcredentials. The University of Technology Sydney offers Applied Data Science for Innovation, Advanced Machine Learning and Applied Data Analytics for Cybersecurity.
Away from the universities, the big source of microcredentials are the tech companies. Prominent in Australia are Google and its Google Career Certificate program, AWS, Atlassian University, which opened in 2011, and Canva Design.
Generally, the tech companies, aside from Google, only offer microcredentials in their products. SAP of Germany, for instance, in May announced a partnership with Victoria University Polytechnic to train Australians on SAP software.
Lifting job prospects
Atlassian offers free courses on its Confluence, Jira and other software. A company survey in 2021 found that 86 per cent of Atlassian-certified workers reported the certification “increased their professional credibility”, while 73 per cent said it lifted “their job prospects”, 57 per cent reported it raised “their earning potential” and 52 per cent “had grown their professional network”.
The Google Career Certificates program seeks to meet the demand for sought-after digital skills and works with big employers such as Accenture, Australia Post, IAG, Optus and Woolworths to connect graduates to tech-related jobs.
“Technology-related roles are in demand across all industries in Australia and employers place a premium on these skills,” says Melanie Silva, managing director at Google Australia.
“Google Career Certificates provide flexibility along with the skills Australians and businesses are looking for. We’ve seen keen interest from Australians wanting to upskill and take the next step in their careers, with 80 per cent of graduates reporting a positive career outcome,” Silva says.
Google certificates are online courses in areas such as cloud operations, data analytics, digital marketing, e-commerce, IT support, project management and UX design.
The courses take three to six months and cost $57 per month. More than 3000 Australians have qualified for certificates since they started in the US in 2018 but most of these have been since the program was launched locally last year, Google says. The most popular course is the Google Data Analytics certificate.
The thousands of people brandishing tech microcredentials could mean that Australia’s projected shortfall of an estimated 50,000 tech workers each year is being narrowed. But the reluctance of education providers to outline enrolment numbers could indicate that tech microcredentials are yet to make a major contribution.
To be sure, microcredentials were always going to take time gather pace. Australia’s brimming employment market means tech is having as much trouble as other industries in attracting labour. Governments are stepping in to encourage workers to get tech skills. However slow the uptake of tech microcredentials might be now, it’s likely to accelerate.
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