24 July 2024 – A record number of young people across the country are accessing an online work experience program to build skills and prepare for future careers in Australia’s growing tech jobs market.
The Virtual Work Experience program, designed by the Tech Council of Australia (TCA) and Australia’s leading technology employers, has achieved more than 3,000 completions in just six months.
Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher, Minister for Finance, Women and the Public Service, and ACT Minister for Education and Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry MLA saw firsthand the benefits of the program with students from Alfred Deakin High School in Canberra on Wednesday.
The Virtual Work Experience program was launched in February 2024 and aims to give young Australians, including those experiencing disadvantage or increased barriers to employment, the opportunity to experience careers in tech.
TCA Chief Executive Officer Damian Kassabgi said the strong participation rates were encouraging and a sign of the growing interest in tech careers.
“We need to engage more young Australians to develop their interest in tech as we continue towards our goal of 1.2 million tech workers by 2030 and address skills shortages,” he said. “An important step in that process is giving students and young people a glimpse into the world of tech, raising their awareness of the types of jobs they could do, and creating pathways for them to enter the sector.”
TCA board member Eglantine Etiemble said the program was a valuable opportunity for young people to gain exposure to different roles in the tech industry and help them make informed choices about their career.
“The high engagement in the TCA’s Virtual Work Experiences reflects the strong interest in future tech roles, which is exciting for the industry,” she said.
“Tech jobs are among the fastest-growing and best-paid occupations and we want to make sure all young people have the opportunity to pursue a career in the industry if they choose to. Our next generation of tech leaders could be among our Virtual Work Experience program participants.”
The online tech modules were designed in collaboration with leading employers including CommBank, Microsoft, NBN Co and Year13. A priority for the program is supporting a diverse range of participants, including more girls and women, people with disability, people experiencing disadvantage, and people from rural and regional Australia.
Thirty-seven per cent of people who have completed a TCA Virtual Work Experience module identify as female. The Data Scientist experience, developed in partnership with CommBank, has the highest rate of female participation.
Vicki Wood, CommBank’s Data Analytics Group Practice Lead, said: “We are delighted to be part of this initiative, and it’s encouraging to see how much interest the program has received in only a few months since it launched.”
“As one of Australia’s largest employers, that is leading the way with technological innovation and skills-led careers, we know we have a role to play in helping build Australia’s tech talent pipeline.”
“Through our partnership with TCA and Year13, we are encouraging young people to meet the skills of the future, as well as helping to improve diversity and accessibility, particularly supporting more women into a career in tech.”
The Virtual Work Experience program helps students develop skills in a range of areas including cyber security, network engineering and software engineering. The experiences can be accessed on the Year13 website and are also available in more than 2,200 schools on the Career Tools Platform.
Co-CEO of Year13 Will Stubley said barriers such as location and limited placements mean only a small number of students get the opportunity to undertake work experience in the tech industry.
“Our Virtual Work Experience program addresses these barriers to enable every young person in Australia to get a taste of a career in tech,” he said.
“More than a third of course takers are female, which is really promising to see as we hope to get more young women to consider working in the tech industry.”
“On average, about half of our participants say they are more likely to consider working in roles in cyber security, software engineering, network engineering and data science after completing the course.”
