Nearmap’s Rob Newman wants to “help build a competitive and sustainable tech sector for our country”.
Geospatial specialist, Nearmap, has joined dozens of other leading firms in becoming a member of the Technology Council of Australia (TCA).
The TCA, which launched in August, has a vision “to ensure the tech sector plays a critical role in Australia’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic” by working towards:
- Having 1 million people employed in tech-related jobs by 2025, and 1.2 million by 2030
- Tech-related activity contributing $250 billion to the GDP from by 2030
- Making Australia the best place to start and scale a company
The TCA says the biggest stumbling block to employing one million people in tech sector jobs by 2025 is an acute labour shortage.
That’s something that Rob Newman, Managing Director and CEO of Nearmap, has seen firsthand.
“I’m a father whose daughter moved away from Australia as part of the ‘brain drain’, and is working in a technology role in the United States,” he said.
Newman says that he and colleagues at Nearmap “want to help build a competitive and sustainable tech sector for our country”.
“Nearmap is joining the Tech Council of Australia to play a role in creating innovative career opportunities for graduates, to PhDs,” he said.
“This includes providing roles for people thinking about re-skilling and making a career change. We want to help Australia, and Nearmap, be exciting and viable alternatives for global and domestic talent.”
The TCA’s CEO, Kate Pounder, says that “To get one million people employed in tech sector jobs by 2025, we need an additional 286,000 workers to join the sector.”
“To meet this ambitious target, reskilling and upskilling workers must become the primary way tech jobs are filled,” Ms Pounder said.
“We believe with the right investment, training and regulation, the tech sector will provide jobs, economic growth, and a pathway to secure employment for the next generation of Australian workers.”
“The boom in tech related jobs means there are now more software engineers and developers in Australia than hairdressers, plumbers, or high school teachers. That’s 1 in 16 working Australians,” Ms Pounder added.
“We want to significantly increase that figure.”
The TCA has released a report, Roadmap to Deliver One Million Tech Jobs, which it says outlines the required pathway for Australia to embrace the technology jobs opportunity.
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