Australia is heading toward a critical shortage of skilled workers across finance, technology, and business (FTB), with a shortfall of 250,000 expected by 2030, a new report warns.
According to the Future Skills Organisation (FSO) , a jobs and skills council funded by the federal government, the demand for FTB professionals is set to outpace the rest of the workforce, but the local talent pipeline isn’t keeping up.
By 2030, Australia will need 3.5 million FTB role nearly 450,000 more than today with the largest demand in technology (131,000), followed by finance (64,000) and business (48,000).
Education Falling Behind Demand
The report highlights that education and training systems are not delivering enough graduates to meet emerging needs. While IT degree commencements rose between 2021 and 2023, the sector faces the highest dropout rate. Additionally, 59% of IT students in 2023 were international, leaving domestic supply thin.
Management and commerce enrolments are also dropping, particularly in accounting, where international students made up nearly half of 2023 enrolments. Meanwhile, VET completions remain volatile and insufficient for consistent workforce supply.
The report calls for a system-wide effort—including higher education, VET, migration, and industry—to skill, upskill, attract, and retain the needed workforce.
Migration Key to Plug the Gap
The FSO stresses that while migration alone can’t solve the finance talent crisis, it is vital—especially in accounting, where 16% of workers began on student visas. Australia is encouraged to streamline visa-to-residency pathways for international graduates to stabilise the pipeline.
In tech, where 41% of the current workforce are migrants, the report urges government to maintain and expand temporary-to-permanent migration channels to meet immediate and mid-term demand.
Business roles with mid-senior experience are also expected to benefit from these pathways while domestic capacity grows.
In 2024, the Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) listed 456 occupations on the Consolidated Skilled Occupation List (CSOL), used to identify in-demand roles eligible for employer-sponsored visas. Occupations include software engineers, cybersecurity experts, data scientists, accountants, and auditors.
