Occupation analysis

State of Australia’s Skills 2021: now and into the future

Occupation analysis

Occupations are categorised by ANZSCO using a combination of skill level and skill specialisation as criteria. This framework organises occupations into progressively larger groups across five hierarchical levels, with occupations being the smallest level (of which there are 1023), followed by unit group, minor group, sub-major group and major group (of which there are eight) 20

As with skill level groups, employment increased across all major occupational groups over the 20 years to February 2020. However, as Figure 19 and Table 5 show, this growth was not evenly distributed, with professionals (up by 1,553,500 or 95.0%) and community and personal service workers (up by 724,100 or 105.3%) accounting for more than half (54.1%) of total employment growth over the period. Consequently, the share of total employment accounted for by professionals and community and personal service workers increased by 5.9 and 3.0 percentage points respectively.

Employment within the professionals and community personal service workers major occupational groups were on average less susceptible to automation compared with the average across all occupations. As at February 2000, the average automatability score for occupations within the professionals occupation group was 2.34, while the average automatability score was 2.44 for community and personal service workers. By comparison, the average automatability score across all occupations was 2.85 as at February 2000. For more on this topic see ‘Trends in automatability’ later in the chapter.

Figure 19: 20-year change in employment by occupation, February 2000 to February 2020

This figure is a dumbbell chart which shows the change in employment by 1 digiti ANZSCO occupation between February 2000 to February 2020

Table 5: 20-year change in employment by major occupational groups

Occupation Employment 20-year change in employment Change in total employment share (% pts) 20-years to Feb-2020
  Feb-2020 (no.) (%)

Managers

1,604,900

563,700

54.1%

0.5%

Professionals

3,189,500

1,553,500

95.0%

5.9%

Technicians and Trades Workers

1,799,300

434,500

31.8%

-1.7%

Community and Personal Service Workers

1,411,900

724,100

105.3%

3.0%

Clerical and Administrative Workers

1,762,100

310,400

21.4%

-3.0%

Sales Workers

1,128,500

229,500

25.5%

-1.6%

Machinery Operators and Drivers

832,100

212,800

34.4%

-0.7%

Labourers

1,252,900

180,900

16.9%

-2.6%

Sources: ABS, Labour force Australia, detailed, seasonally adjusted by NSC

Table 6 shows that at the detailed (ANZSCO 4-digit) occupation level, occupations such as registered nurses, accountants, software applications programmers, advertising and marketing professionals and management and organisation analysts were among the occupations driving the growth in the professionals major occupational group over the 20 years to February 2020.

Table 6: Professionals, largest growth detailed occupations, February 2000 to February 2020

Professionals (ANZSCO Group 2)

Skill Level

ANZSCO Code

ANZSCO Title

Employment

20-year change in employment
      February 2020

(no.)

(%)

1

2544

Registered Nurses

292,500

138,300

89.6%

1

2211

Accountants

179,000

64,800

56.7%

1

2613

Software and Applications Programmers

127,200

61,300

93.2%

1

2251

Advertising and Marketing Professionals

81,700

53,600

191.3%

1

2247

Management and Organisation Analysts

75,600

44,100

139.9%

1

2713

Solicitors

75,600

43,100

132.6%

1

2332

Civil Engineering Professionals

62,800

37,500

148.7%

1

2411

Early Childhood (Pre-primary School) Teachers

49,300

37,000

300.6%

1

2421

University Lecturers and Tutors

68,000

34,900

105.6%

1

2414

Secondary School Teachers

149,300

34,100

29.5%

Sources: ABS, Labour force Australia, detailed, seasonally adjusted by NSC

Table 7 shows that the drivers of growth in the community and personal service workers major occupational group include:

  • aged and disabled carers
  • child carers
  • nursing support and personal care workers
  • education aides and waiters.

Table 7: Community and personal service workers, largest growth detailed occupations, February 2000 to February 2020

Community and Personal Service Workers (ANZSCO Group 4)

Skill Level

ANZSCO Code

ANZSCO Title

Employment - February 2020

 

20-year change in employment

(no.)

(%)

4

4231

Aged and Disabled Carers

225,300

156,300

226.4%

3

4211

Child Carers

131,400

66,000

101.1%

4

4233

Nursing Support and Personal Care Workers

99,000

62,900

174.4%

4

4221

Education Aides

107,500

60,700

129.4%

4

4315

Waiters

140,400

54,600

63.6%

4

4311

Bar Attendants and Baristas

106,400

45,500

74.7%

2

4117

Welfare Support Workers

67,200

40,900

155.2%

2

4116

Massage Therapists

30,600

24,900

436.8%

4

4521

Fitness Instructors

33,100

24,800

301.6%

3

4511

Beauty Therapists

39,600

24,400

161.8%

Sources: ABS, Labour force Australia, detailed, seasonally adjusted by NSC.

The weakest employment growth over the 20 years to February 2020 was observed for the labourers and clerical and administrative workers major occupational groups. The share of total employment accounted for by these groups declined by 2.6 and 3.0 percentage points respectively over the period.

Occupations within the labourers and clerical and administrative workers major occupational groups were on average more susceptible to automation compared with the average across all occupations. As at February 2000, the average automatability scores for occupations within the labourers occupational group was 3.06, while the average occupation score for clerical and administrative workers was 3.29. By comparison, the average automatability score across all occupations was 2.85 as at February 2000. For more on this topic see ‘Trends in automatability’ later in the chapter.

Table 8 shows that within the labourers broad occupational group, 21 of the 44 detailed occupations recorded falls in employment over the period. The largest declines were recorded for crop farm workers, product assemblers and laundry workers.

Within the clerical and administrative workers broad occupational group, 11 of the 33 detailed occupations recorded falls in employment over the period. The largest declines were recorded for secretaries, keyboard operators and personal assistants (see table 9).

Table 8: Labourers, largest declining detailed occupations, February 2000 to February 2020

Labourers (ANZSCO Group 8)

Skill Level

ANZSCO Code

ANZSCO Title

Employment - February 2020

20-year change in employment

(no.)

(%)

5

8412

Crop Farm Workers

23,400

-35,500

-60.2%

5

8322

Product Assemblers

27,200

-23,400

-46.3%

5

8115

Laundry Workers

12,000

-9,100

-43.1%

5

8415

Livestock Farm Workers

37,400

-8,900

-19.2%

5

8392

Plastics and Rubber Factory Workers

2,300

-7,100

-75.7%

4

8995

Printing Assistants and Table Workers

3,300

-4,600

-58.3%

5

8391

Metal Engineering Process Workers

9,600

-4,200

-30.3%

5

8416

Mixed Crop and Livestock Farm Workers

3,600

-3,700

-51.0%

5

8321

Packers

69,100

-3,600

-5.0%

5

8399

Other Factory Process Workers

11,300

-3,300

-22.7%

Sources: ABS, Labour force, Australia, detailed, seasonally adjusted by NSC

Table 9: Clerical and administrative workers, largest declining detailed occupations, February 2000 to February 2020

Community and Personal Service Workers (ANZSCO Group 5)

Skill Level

ANZSCO Code

ANZSCO Title

Employment - February 2020

20-year change in employment

       

(no.)

(%)

2

5212

Secretaries

36,000

-96,100

-72.7%

4

5321

Keyboard Operators

49,400

-83,400

-62.8%

2

5211

Personal Assistants

49,100

-27,300

-35.7%

3

5512

Bookkeepers

88,600

-23,400

-20.9%

3

5521

Bank Workers

54,900

-22,300

-28.9%

5

5616

Switchboard Operators

2,000

-12,600

-86.2%

5

5614

Mail Sorters

8,900

-11,100

-55.6%

4

5511

Accounting Clerks

138,900

-10,000

-6.7%

5

5611

Betting Clerks

2,300

-2,700

-53.2%

4

5994

Human Resource Clerks

13,000

-1,000

-7.3%

Sources: ABS, Labour force, Australia, detailed, seasonally adjusted by NSC

The previous section examined trends in specific broad occupational groupings. In this section we examine trends across 358 detailed occupations. Overall, employment increased in 265 of the 358 detailed occupations over the 20 years to February 2020. Increases were observed across all broad occupational groups and skill levels. Table 10 shows that the largest growth was recorded for general clerks, followed by:

  • aged and disabled carers
  • registered nurses
  • advertising, public relations and sales managers
  • sales assistants (general).

Employment fell in 91 of the remaining detailed occupations over the 20 years to February 2020 and two detailed occupations remained steady. Falls were observed across all broad occupational groups and skill levels over the period, with the largest falls recorded for secretaries, followed by:

  • keyboard operators
  • mixed crop and livestock farmers
  • crop farm workers
  • engineering production workers.

Table 10: Largest increasing and declining detailed occupations, February 2000 to February 2020

Skill Level

ANZSCO Code

ANZSCO Title

Employment - February 2020

20-year change in employment

(no.)

(%)

Largest increasing detailed occupations

4

5311

General Clerks

328,900

249,700

315.2%

4

4231

Aged and Disabled Carers

225,300

156,300

226.4%

1

2544

Registered Nurses

292,500

138,300

89.6%

1

1311

Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Managers

159,000

99,300

166.4%

5

6211

Sales Assistants (General)

516,800

95,600

22.7%

2

5111

Contract, Program and Project Administrators

122,400

80,500

192.0%

2

3513

Chefs

115,700

79,000

214.9%

2

5121

Office Managers

151,500

72,900

92.7%

3

4211

Child Carers

131,400

66,000

101.1%

1

1331

Construction Managers

115,600

65,500

130.4%

Largest decreasing detailed occupations

2

5212

Secretaries

36,000

-96,100

-72.7%

4

5321

Keyboard Operators

49,400

-83,400

-62.8%

1

1214

Mixed Crop and Livestock Farmers

32,600

-53,600

-62.2%

5

8412

Crop Farm Workers

23,400

-35,500

-60.2%

4

7123

Engineering Production Workers

15,400

-31,600

-67.3%

2

5211

Personal Assistants

49,100

-27,300

-35.7%

5

8322

Product Assemblers

27,200

-23,400

-46.3%

3

5512

Bookkeepers

88,600

-23,400

-20.9%

3

5521

Bank Workers

54,900

-22,300

-28.9%

1

1212

Crop Farmers

34,600

-20,800

-37.6%

Sources: ABS, Labour force, Australia, detailed, seasonally adjusted by NSC

STEM skills promote innovation

STEM skills (science, technology, engineering and maths) are an integral part of Australia’s labour market and enable a range of complex, innovative types of work in many different industries. Digitisation and automation are shaping the composition of the labour market, and the need for workers in higher skill occupations will be greater in coming years. STEM skills are one part of this shift and are at the centre of the knowledge economy. The Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources reported in Australia’s National Science Statement that businesses that innovate are twice as likely to use STEM skills, and 70% of Australian employers identify STEM-skilled employees as the most innovative 21. People with STEM skills develop deep discipline knowledge in their respective fields, digital literacy, and the flexibility to pivot their careers to embrace new challenges – important for navigating the changing labour market and changing skills requirements for occupations 22.

The National Skills Commission has identified 108 ‘STEM occupations’ based on the ABS occupation classification, ANZSCO, at the four-digit level of detail. Latest available ABS Labour force survey data, for the February 2021 quarter, show that STEM occupations make up 21.9% of total employment, and over the 20 year period to February 2020, before the impact of COVID-19 on the labour market, employment in STEM occupations grew by 85.0%. This is more than twice as fast as non-STEM occupations (40.2% over the period).

Temporary shock vs structural change: the mining boom and slowdown

For much of the 2000s, the Australian economy benefitted from increased global demand for resources, in particular strong demand for iron ore from China. This created a boom in mining employment, which rose by 190,100 (228.5%) over the 10 years to August 2012. By comparison, employment across all industries increased by 23.4% over the period.

Figure 20 shows that employment in the mining industry peaked in August 2012 during the mining boom. After the boom there was a slowdown in demand for resources and subsequently employment fell. Employment in the mining industry fell by 55,500 (20.3%) over the five years to August 2017. Although this fall in employment is often characterised as marking the end of the mining boom, employment in the industry has remained strong and at February 2020, prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, was at 86.8% of peak mining employment levels.

Figure 20: Mining employment over the 30 years to February 2021

This figure is a combined column chart with line chart which shows Mining employment over the 30 years to February 2021. The left axis (line chart) shows the total employment in the Mining industry in numbers, while the right axis (column chart) shows the Mining share of total employment as a percentage.

Retrospective analysis of the mining industry illustrates the difficulty in separating a temporary market shock from persistent structural change. Although mining employment fell over the five years to August 2017, since around 2016 the value of Australia’s metalliferous ores and metal scrap exports have continued to rise, while
the underlying factors which helped drive demand for resources, such as government infrastructure spending and demand for resource intensive technological goods, remain intact and continue to provide a tailwind for employment in the mining industry.

As a result, during the 2012 to 2017 period of softened resource demand it may have appeared that the level of employment in the mining industry was reverting to pre-mining boom levels. However, labour market data released from 2018 onwards have shown that the decline in mining employment over the five years to August
2017 was far smaller than the substantial increase in employment that occurred over the 10 years to August 2012. As at February 2020, the level of mining employment was 186.4% above the level recorded in February 2000. Moreover, the share of total employment in the mining industry nearly doubled from 1.0% to 1.9% over the 20
years to February 2020. It appears that mining employment will continue to remain at elevated levels as long as there is sufficient resource demand

Footnotes

20

ABS, ANZSCO, 2013.

 
21

Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, Australia’s national science statement, 2017.

22

Office of the Chief Scientist, Australia’s STEM workforce, 2020.