Revealed: Australia’s most in demand jobs – and the occupations you should AVOID if you want a long career
- Analysis has revealed Australia’s most sought after jobs and which ones to avoid
- Some of Australia’s most common jobs on the decline, including sales assistants
- Checkout operators and cashiers currently the fastest-growing job in Australia
New research into Australia’s ever-changing workforce has revealed the most in demand jobs and which occupations should be avoided.
While checkout operators, advertising and public relations and primary school teachers are highly sought after, some of Australia’s most common jobs are now on the decline.
Almost four million Australians, or one third of the workforce is employed in 20 occupations, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
But an analysis of the latest ABS labour market data by The Australian revealed some of the most common jobs are now under threat.
As online shopping continues to grow, sales assistant numbers are dropped by 23 per cent
The most common job are sales assistants, which accounts for 434,921 jobs.
But the changing retail market means there are 126,174 fewer sales assistants than in 2016, which have dropped by 23 per cent and top the list of jobs with the worst decline.
White collar management positions are also on the decline with chief executives and managing directors under the second highest threat with 31,000 less jobs.
Retail supervisor numbers have subsided by 31 per cent, along with call centre and customer service managers while the number of general managers has also slumped.
Primary school teachers and education aides are among the sixth fastest growing jobs
Despite the rise of self-serve checkouts in stores, checkout operators and cashiers are the fastest-growing job in Australia with a whopping 69 per cent growth.
The list of Australia’s fastest growing jobs is also good news for advertising and public relations managers (32 per cent), software and applications programmers (also 32 per cent), accountants (16 per cent) and primary school teachers (17 per cent).
Demographer Bernard Salt predicts future retail space to accommodate more childcare, aged care and health care services.
‘Cafes, food courts and restaurants — and food delivery drivers — will undoubtedly expand to fulfil our insatiable demand for lifestyle,’ he wrote in a recent column for The Australian.
‘Wellness centres including massage, pilates, physiotherapy, podiatry and beauty therapists (including manicure) will become more popular as we age, as we become more prosperous and even more self-indulgent.’
Sales assistants are on the decline but checkout cashiers are among the fastest growing jobs
The figures also questioned the value of university degrees in the ever-changing workforce.
Tom Larter, chief executive of technology firm WithYouWithMe believes it’s more important to get into the workforce sooner than spending up to five years in a lecture hall.
‘Jobs are changing so fast, you need to get into your first job and then use lifelong learning to build out your skills,’ Mr Larter told news.com.au.
‘Find out what you’re good at, make yourself competitive quickly by learning in-demand skills, get into the workforce as fast as you can and then continually learn through your career as you go.’
He also urged Australian to consider emerging careers that weren’t in existence a decade ago.
‘We’ve had bus drivers and junior sailors with no experience in cybersecurity do a 12-week training course and get jobs,’ Mr Larter said.
A recent analysis of the latest ABS figures revealed bad news for call centre managers