Shadow Industry and Innovation Minister Alex Hawke has accused the Albanese government of breaking its 2022 election commitment to grow Australia’s technology workforce to 1.2 million jobs by 2030.
The potshot comes off the back of the Department of Industry, Science and Resources’ (DISR) 2024-25 annual report, released last week, which shows that tech-related jobs declined over the past year.
The report revealed that the tech workforce fell to 949,172 jobs in May 2025, down from 980,506 in May 2024, representing a 3.7% decline. According to DISR’s report, tech roles now account for around 6.5% of total national employment.
The department assessed progress against the 2030 target as “not met”, noting the trajectory is no longer on track after three consecutive quarters of decline, despite overall national employment rising by 2% over the same period.
Coalition jumps on report to target Labor’s tech agenda
Hawke said the slump shows Labor has failed to deliver on an economic priority that underpins Australia’s ability to compete in areas such as AI, defence, cybersecurity and advanced manufacturing.
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“This is a broken promise and a broken election commitment,” Hawke said.
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“Tech jobs underpin everything from AI to AUKUS; they’re not a ‘nice to have’, they’re a national imperative.
“We need more tech jobs to power the next wave of cutting-edge opportunities, but this data confirms Labor is taking us in the wrong direction.
“Labor has created a massive brain drain that will have a ripple effect across the economy.”
The shadow minister also criticised Industry Minister Tim Ayres and took aim at the National Reconstruction Fund, calling it a “slush fund”.
The fund’s governance and investments have faced scrutiny in recent months, including questions raised during Senate estimates about transparency and decision-making processes.
Despite the recent decline, technology employment has grown faster than the wider labour market over the long term.
Over the past five years, tech-related jobs increased at an average annual rate of 4.6%, compared to 2.8% across the economy. However, the department noted that these successive quarterly declines may indicate a shift that could require more direct intervention.
The target of reaching 1.2 million tech jobs by 2030 originated in 2022, in partnership with the Tech Council of Australia (TCA). To meet it, Australia would need to add roughly 250,000 technology roles in the next five years.
The TCA said it is closely analysing the latest figures, but maintains the 2030 goal remains achievable if workforce and training pathways continue to expand.
A spokesperson for Tim Ayres told Information Age the government is “committed” to supporting Australians to move into tech-related roles and that “a range of initiatives” are available to workers.
“Since the Albanese government’s Free TAFE program started in January 2023, there have been more than 65,000 enrolments in technology and digital sector courses,” the spokesperson said.
“In addition, our Building Women’s Careers program has funded several partnerships aimed at growing the tech workforce.”
Rise of tech job losses in Australia reflects global trend
The report attributes the decline to job losses both within technology companies and in technology roles embedded across other sectors of the economy.
While the broader labour market continued to grow, technology roles reduced in line with global trends. The department also noted that tech jobs in non-technology industries were the largest contributor to the decline over the year.
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The downturn in technology employment also comes after a prolonged period of restructuring across the global tech sector, with major employers such as Amazon, Microsoft and Meta all reducing headcount in technical and product roles over the past two years.
Across parts of the sector, employers have also reported reshaping roles in response to generative AI adoption, particularly in documentation, support, and entry-level technical functions.
Similar patterns have been seen in Australia. Telstra is currently undertaking a multi-year network and systems transformation that will see significant job cuts.
Earlier this year, Canva introduced a new suite of AI-driven tools and, at the same time, carried out its first known round of redundancies, which affected most of its technical writing team. The move followed internal shifts toward using generative AI for documentation and content workflows.
Job search giants Indeed and Glassdoor have also cited AI as the reason for reducing headcount.
The CSIRO has also flagged staffing reductions across several research and technical areas, a shift discussed during Senate estimates hearings earlier this year.
