Shortages · Hiring · 7 min read
Hiring in a shortage: 29% of occupations, and the skills that change by 2030.
Last checked 3 November 2026
Nearly three in ten assessed Australian occupations were in shortage on the 2025 list; the 2026 list, published October 2026, shows a further easing. Employers say the skills they need will change by 39% in five years. You cannot hire your way out of both at once.
Team level only · n ≥ 5 · band shown on every score · never an individual verdict
The short version
Jobs and Skills Australia's 2025 Occupation Shortage List, released in October 2025, found 293 of 1,022 assessed occupations in national shortage, or 29%. 2025 list; the 2026 list, published October 2026, shows a further easing. Professionals account for 122 of those and technicians and trades workers 99. Construction, education and training, mining, health care and other services carry the heaviest shares. Against that, the World Economic Forum's employer survey expects 39% of core skills to change by 2030, with 63% of employers calling skills gaps their biggest barrier and 77% planning to reskill.
What employers told the WEF they will do by 2030
Reskill first, hire second, cut where automation lands.
Source · World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report, Jan 2025, 2025
The cost of the empty chair
A vacancy leaves work uncovered while recruitment takes time. A defensible dollar estimate needs a named source and assumptions specific to the role; no general cost figure is offered here.
Skills-based hiring is now the default
Eighty five percent of employers report practising skills-based hiring, and 53% have removed degree requirements, up from 30% a year earlier (TestGorilla employer survey, 2025). PwC's data shows the market moving the same way: the share of AI-augmented jobs requiring a degree fell from 66% to 59% between 2019 and 2024 (PwC, 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer; the 2026 edition does not update this measure). The question has become "can this person adapt to how the work is changing", and a CV cannot answer it.
The move
Hire for adaptability and train for the tool. Redeploy before you recruit: half of employers plan to transition workers from declining to growing roles, and that is the cheapest hire you will make. And measure the existing team on one instrument, so the decision about who to reskill rests on a pattern with a range, not a manager's hunch.
Common questions
- How many occupations are in shortage in Australia?
- 293 of 1,022 assessed occupations, or 29%, in the Jobs and Skills Australia 2025 Occupation Shortage List. The 2026 list, published October 2026, shows a further easing. Professionals account for 122 and trades 99.
- What does a vacancy cost an Australian employer?
- There is no sourced general figure here. The cost depends on the role, the work left uncovered and the time recruitment takes.
- Should we reskill or hire?
- Redeploy first. 77% of employers plan to reskill and 50% plan to transition workers into growing roles (WEF 2025). Measure the team first to see the real gap.
- How do you hire through the skills shortage in Australia?
- Hire for adaptability and the skills that are rising, not only for credentials, and reskill the people you have: 77% of employers plan to reskill by 2030 (WEF).
Sources · Jobs and Skills Australia, Occupation Shortage List, 2025 (2026 edition published October 2026). WEF, Future of Jobs Report 2025. TestGorilla skills-based hiring survey 2025. PwC, Global AI Jobs Barometer 2025.
Jobs and Skills Australia, 2026 Occupation Shortage List key findings