The hottest jobs in Australia 2021

The COVID-19 recession may have ground some parts of the global service sector to a halt, but other parts of the job market are already showing signs of recovery. This is evidenced by the continuing shift in the most in-demand fields for 2021.

In Australia, the fastest-growing jobs come from the health and social care industries, as well as from sectors where skills are believed to be highly transferable, or where work can be done remotely in a digital-first environment, data from LinkedIn’s latest Jobs on the Rise report suggest.

Read more: A third of Australians plan to switch jobs in 2021

Australia’s care sector is currently facing the largest demand for professionals. It has a workforce of over 1.5 million but – as the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association estimates – the country could be seeing a shortage of at least 100,000 nurses and 2,700 doctors by 2025. The need for both frontliners and support staff will only continue to grow.

“The sector covers all stages of life, from childcare to aged care, and incorporates a range of roles, such as medical technicians, receptionists, social workers, commercial cleaners, or psychologists,” LinkedIn said.

Read more: Australia’s top career-switching industries

But while it’s no surprise that the care economy is booming, one other overarching trend analysts observed in the pandemic was how nearly all of the other fastest-growing jobs in Australia could be done remotely.

“As a result, workers who are equipped with digital skills, even at a basic level, will have an edge in finding employment opportunities within these fields,” the report said.

For HR decision makers, it’s important to understand competencies that will prove critical in a pandemic economy. LinkedIn analysts also mapped out which skills are on the rise:

Care workers –

1) Mental health specialists
Top skills/specialisations:

• Mental health
• Psychology
• Psychotherapy
• Cognitive behavioural therapy
• Psychological assessment

2) Healthcare / Medical frontliners
Top skills/specialisations:

• Patient safety
• Medicine
• Emergency services
• Basic life support
• Health care

3) Healthcare / Medical support workers
Top skills/specialisations:

• Nursing
• Personal care
• Rehabilitation
• Healthcare management
• Exercise prescription

4) Social workers
Top skills/specialisations:

• Mental health
• Case management
• Child welfare
• Social services
• Youth work

Workers with transferable skills –

1) Construction workers
Top skills/specialisations:

• Construction estimating
• Construction site management
• Construction safety
• Forklift operation
• Heavy equipment

2) Customer service staff
Top skills/specialisations:

• Customer experience
• Customer satisfaction
• Communication
• Time management

3) Personal / Professional coaches
Top skills/specialisations:

• Business coaching
• Wellness coaching
• Executive coaching
• Personal development
• Mentoring

4) Real estate specialists
Top skills/specialisations:

• Mortgage lending
• New home sales
• Residential real estate
• Investment properties
• Real estate transactions

Digital / Remote workers –

1) Content specialists
Top skills/specialisations:

• Copywriting
• Social media marketing
• Web content writing
• Storytelling
• Audio editing

2) Ecommerce specialists
Top skills/specialisations:

• Shopify
• Social media
• Warehouse operations
• Inventory management

3) Education specialists
Top skills/specialisations:

• Early childhood education
• Early childhood development
• Curriculum development
• Educational leadership

4) Finance workers
Top skills/specialisations:

• Financial crimes investigations
• Foreign exchange (FX) trading
• Financial analysis
• Risk management
• Income tax

5) Marketing specialists
Top skills/specialisations:

• User experience (UX)
• Growth strategies
• Social media marketing
• Search engine optimisation (SEO)
• Influencer marketing

6) Security specialists
Top skills/specialisations:

• Security information and event management (SIEM)
• Information security
• Cybersecurity
• Network security
• Machine learning

7) Specialised engineering roles
Top skills/specialisations:

• Node.js
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Data management
• Engineering management
• JavaScript