Industry report examines AI productivity and jobs promise

The Tech Council of Australia (TCA) has warned reforms will be needed to address the skills gap exposed in a report mapping how the development and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can spur Australian jobs growth.

‘Meeting the AI skills boom’ makes a range of recommendations, including widespread literacy education and a national investment and capability plan.

The industry report suggested AI-related jobs could add up to 200,000 new roles in the economy within six years and save the economy an estimated $115 billion — 70% of which will be achieved by productivity gains.

Meeting this kind of demand, however, would require Australia’s current levels of qualified employees to grow by 500% by 2030, the research found.

TCA CEO Damian Kassabgi said AI development job numbers could be supported by several government interventions, including drawing on skilled migrants with highly technical roles requiring experience.

“In addition to roles that are responsible for developing, designing and maintaining AI systems, we will need people with skills in areas such as human resources, sales and governance to successfully scale these systems and businesses to harness the potential in front of us,” Kassabgi said, noting new roles would be created in both tech and non-tech sectors.

The TCA’s report was launched on Tuesday with the support of Microsoft, LinkedIn and Workday.

The report noted additional legal, policy, and risk and compliance roles in fields such as finance, human resources, sales and operations, and governance would be spurred by AI uptake.

Since 2014, Australia’s AI workforce has grown from about 800 workers to more than 33,000. There are presently as many AI employees as there are architects or school principals nationwide.

LinkedIn Australia and New Zealand managing director Matt Tindale added that more diversified training pathways could grow the supply of domestic cybersecurity, product and design workers.

“The existing tech workforce is already straining to meet demand, but growing the number of AI development jobs could be achieved by offering alternative entry-level pathways,” Tindale said.

The industry report also called for other reforms such as alternative entry-level pathways and opportunities for mid-career retraining and upskilling.

Workday’s Paul Leahy, public service regional sales director, said Australian employees should be supported in preparing for all the ways this transformation would impact the nature of work.

For policymakers, he suggested a comprehensive AI investment and capability plan would provide a clear path for regulation and governance, digital infrastructure and research and commercialisation.

“[An] investment and capability plan for Australia is also essential … to capture the economic and productivity benefits of AI,” Leahy said.

Microsoft Australia’s chief technology officer Sarah Carney explained Australians were already using AI-powered tools to save time and create space for more important or creative work.

“There is still massive growth to come, so we need to ensure we have the AI-skilled workers available to reap the economic and social benefits that the technology will bring as it becomes more widespread,” she said.

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