Paper estimates 5 million Australian jobs at risk if transition to a future-focused economy fails

Australia’s problem with unemployment could worsen if the country’s transition to a future-focused economy would fail. A discussion paper, made by StartupAUS and released on Thursday, estimates about 5 million jobs are at risk due to lack of protection from technological advancements.

Technology companies would generate forward-looking jobs that Australia needs, with every job in high-growth tech firms creating up to five tangential jobs, says Alex McCauley, CEO of StartupAUS. He says building innovation hubs with powerful multiplier effects would have extensive economic benefits on the country, reports The Australian.

If Australia gets it right, it could capitalise on future-focused jobs, highlighting a very real need to keep up the momentum on innovation and start-up policy. McCauley adds that the two new portfolio ministers would get across these issues very rapidly and in a very focused manger.

StartupAUS released the discussion paper - produced with the help of LinkedIn, a global technology, company, and Expert360 and CodeCamp, start-ups in Sydney – ahead of the third yearly StartupAUS Crossroads Report slated for release in October 2016.

According to the LinkedIn data, 16 of the 20 most in-demand skills currently in Australia are not technology-related. To support the core of the country’s fast growing innovation ecosystem, LinkedIn identifies workers with a combination of entrepreneurial, STEM, creative and social skills would increasingly be in high demand, reports ITwire.

Colin Pohl, author of the paper, notes that in the US, about 34 percent of its workforce is made up of independent workers. “We expect this to increase significantly and for a similar trend to be reflected here in Australia,” he says.

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Source: ABC Action News