Leilani Abels, Managing Director
OPINION: Under recent changes, we heard that the Government is committed to helping small businesses embrace digital evolution. Opposition leader Anthony Albanese and shadow industry minister Ed Husic have also announced a pledge to help create 340,000 new tech jobs by 2030, aiming to boost the tech sector's contribution to the economy and boost in-demand skill sets.
The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) was quick to respond, welcoming Labor's commitment to tackle the tech skills shortage by reaching 1.2 million tech-related jobs by 2030.
Both join a long list of both Government and industry leaders all pledging for a boost in Australia’s tech skills, and for a good reason. Technology has pervaded every facet of our personal and professional lives and has become a foundation of today’s economy, even more so two years after the pandemic hit the world.
Every business today is to some degree a technology business. You don’t need to be an IT company to rely heavily on technology or need a workforce that understands how to navigate the digital world.
This is true for all industries, as well as for all job functions. Think about it, whether you are in retail, education, healthcare, food & beverages, logistics & supply chain, hospitality, tourism, and whether you work in finance, sales, customer service or marketing, having tech knowledge is a MUST.
Not everyone needs to be an IT engineer, but being able to understand how technology works and how the digital world as a whole operates is essential. Australia needs a workforce that is more tech and digital-savvy, across the board.
What’s worrying is that while the need for tech skills is growing, Australians are still unprepared to operate in a digital world. A recent Salesforce study found that 80 percent of Australians do not feel ready to operate in a digital-first world, with women, in particular, lagging their global peers.
The MarComms industry might not see itself as a heavily tech-driven industry, but the truth is technology companies around the globe need communications professionals who can help them tell compelling stories and the fact remains that there are simply not enough people in the industry today who can interpret and talk tech.
Marketing, Communication and PR professionals need to upgrade their skills set and become more tech-savvy if they want to future proof their careers, and if they want to work for innovative and inspiring brands.
In the past two years, we’ve seen more and more of our non-tech clients come to us with projects that involve technology to some degree, with the expectation that our consultants will both understand that technology, and be able to effectively communicate around it whether it is via media relations, content marketing campaigns, thought leadership, social media, or comms to internal stakeholders.
This expectation from brands across all industries will only continue to grow, and this is why the MarComms industry as a whole has a responsibility to better educate and upskill professionals and consultants from all levels of seniority.
As a leader in the industry, Thrive PR is contributing to this national upskilling goal, and this is why we have recently launched Tech Academy, a technology information training program designed for MarComms professionals to advance their knowledge, understanding, and ability to communicate in today’s tech-driven world.