Australia software programmers hit record 216,000 jobs

Adaca has published research showing a record 216,000 software and applications programmers are working in Australia, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics labour force data.

The report points to continued growth in software development employment despite lay-off headlines linked to artificial intelligence and cuts at larger technology groups. It says the number of programmers rose from 189,000 in 2025 and from 68,000 in 2006.

That amounts to 217% growth over two decades, making software development one of the country's fastest-growing occupations. Across 702 occupations tracked by the ABS since 2015, the role ranks 24th for growth, according to the analysis.

The figures also suggest the occupation has continued to expand since generative AI tools entered the mainstream in 2022. Among Australia's largest professions over that period, software development ranked 10th for jobs growth and was the fastest-growing IT role in the dataset cited by Adaca.

Jobs picture

The findings offer a counterpoint to warnings that AI will sharply reduce demand for coding and software roles. Instead, the report argues the labour market has absorbed workers leaving some parts of the technology sector while demand has broadened across other industries.

Adaca is an Australian technology services company with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Manila. It employs 175 people and its customers include ANZ, Qantas and the United Nations.

Founder Lambros Photios said the data showed a more complex employment picture than recent fears of an AI-driven jobs collapse.

"For all the doom and gloom surrounding AI layoffs, there is incredible cause for optimism," said Lambros Photios, Founder, Adaca.

"We are seeing devs displaced, not replaced. They are leaving big tech and finding work anywhere and everywhere else. When mid-market companies realise what they can achieve by hiring their first AI-powered dev team, every company will have one. We are in the golden age for Australian developers," Photios said.

Skills pipeline

Beyond the headline employment growth, the research raises questions about how Australia is training and supplying software workers. It says the sector is increasingly dependent on people born overseas and suggests migration has become a major source of technical talent.

The report also found that between 19,000 and 25,000 people working in software development have no higher education qualification. Within that group, 19,000 had only a Higher School Certificate and no further formal education, representing 10% of the country's software developer workforce.

Those figures point to a profession that does not rely solely on university pathways. They also suggest employers are already hiring from a broader pool than formal degree programmes alone would indicate.

Photios argued that the local education system is not producing enough people with the right technical skills.

"The high ratio of developers born overseas suggests that the Australian software development sector is thriving through migration, not education," said Photios.

"Tech and software skills are not well taught here compared to other countries. A lot of businesses sponsor skilled overseas workers, or offshore their software development needs abroad because it's too hard to find the right skills. The gender divide is disappointing. Software development in Australia has always been a boy's club, and not much has changed in 20 years. But I'm hopeful. It will be interesting to see if AI reduces barriers to entry and fundamentally changes the workforce demographic," Photios said.

Gender gap

The data also shows limited progress on gender balance. Women accounted for 17.3% of the software development workforce across quarterly figures over the past 20 years, rising to 20.1% in 2025.

That increase of less than 3 percentage points underlines how slowly the profession has changed even as demand has surged. While software development has become one of Australia's stronger growth occupations, the workforce remains heavily male-dominated.

The report's broader conclusion is that employment trends in software are being reshaped rather than erased by AI. For employers, the figures suggest demand for programming work remains resilient. For policymakers, they raise separate questions about migration, training pathways and who is entering one of the country's fastest-growing professions.

As of February 2026, the ABS category for software and applications programmers stood at 216,000 workers.