It's an uncertain time to be considering a career in the tech industry. The workforce shrunk for the first time on record this year, according to the Australian Computer Society (ACS), despite the industry value growing to $142 billion in the 2025 fiscal year. Headlines are dominated by layoffs, it's a tough market for graduates, and AI is rapidly changing the industry.
However, the ACS's latest annual Digital Pulse Report, prepared by Deloitte, says the economy will need an additional 259,000 technology workers by 2035 — and the government is ready to help make that happen.
“As AI continues to reshape the way Australians work, our task is not to fear that change, but to ensure people have the education, training, and recognised professional skills to succeed, while building sovereign capability in those critical technologies where Australia can make the greatest contribution, working alongside trusted international partners,” Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said when launching the report earlier this year.
If you're considering a career in tech but don't know if it's right for you, we break down the biggest myths and misconceptions.
Myth #1: You need to be a coder or hacker.
Incorrect... although it doesn't hurt.
"Everyone assumes you have to be highly technical, and that everyone in cybersecurity is a hacker," Paul*, a senior cyber security engineer with two decades of experience, told Anyway. "There are a lot of people like that; I was one of them. But so many problems in cybersecurity need non-technical skills: project management, people management, creating processes, vendor management and commercial acumen. Each of those fits a specific job profile."
About 1 in 4 tech workers are in trade, sales and other roles, according to the Digital Pulse Report.
Myth #2: You have to work at a tech company.
Sure, plenty of roles in the digital technology space are at companies like Google, Microsoft, CrowdStrike, Palo Alto or Atlassian. However, less than half (424,000 ) digital tech workers in Australia work at a tech company, according to the Tech Council of Australia's (TCA) August 2026 Tech Jobs Report. The other 553,000 workers hold technical positions within other industries, reflecting an increased demand for tech skills across the economy.
Myth #3: It's a boys' club.
This one isn't technically un-true... but it is changing. Women hold just 30% of tech positions in Australia, according to a 2025 report from RMIT, despite accounting for about 44% of the workforce. This number is up four points in a decade, so at least things are moving in the right direction.
However, when it comes to highly technical roles, women make up just 20% of the workforce (which falls to 16% over the age of 40), leave technical roles at twice the rate as men, and hold just 15% of top AI leadership roles, according to the TCA's 2025 research report, Women in Highly Technical Occupations: The Leaky Pipeline. Harassment is another major reason women leave the industry, with nearly half of women in STEM reporting harassment — five times the rate of men, according to the ACS.
If Australia needs to meet the skill shortage, the TCA argues that 661,300 women in Australia already have many of the skills required. With a little retraining, Australia could create a $6.5 billion benefit to businesses and increase individual wages by 31%.
“Australia’s tech talent shortage is a growing challenge, and reskilling women presents a practical, high-impact solution,” RMIT Online CEO Nic Cola said.
“Gender representation drives profitability, innovation and performance.
“With over 600,000 women in roles that could transition into tech with the proper training, the opportunity is clear.”
Myth #4: You need a uni degree.
There are plenty of ways into tech, and a university degree is just one of them. Around 40% of new tech workers in the past five years came through non-traditional routes, including workplace training (55,000), industry credentials (44,000), and self-taught (34,000), to the Digital Pulse report. The ACS wants 20% of entry-level hires to come from these routes by 2030, supported by government-funded 'earn while you learn' and micro-credentialling programs. ACS President Beau Tydd said entering the technology industry is "no longer defined by a single route".
"While alternative pathways broaden our talent pool, professionalisation provides the shared language and trusted credentials needed to ensure skills are recognised, portable, and built to high standards across the entire economy," he said.
However, 74% of tech job advertisements require a university degree, according to the ACS, so worth keeping in mind before forgoing uni entirely.
Myth #5: You need to be great at maths.
While it absolutely can't hurt, there are ways in without needing to be a bonafide maths genius. TAFE's NSW Cert IV in IT requires no formal maths prerequisite, asking prospective students to be able to "solve maths problems you often see in real life". And Deakin's Bacehlor of IT, English — not maths — is the only Year 12 prerequisite.
Don't skip maths entirely. Monash's Bachelor of IT does require some maths skills, so make sure you do your research before selecting Year 11 and 12 subjects.
Myth #6: It's an easy job if you want to earn lots of money.
While the salaries are on the high end for Australia, going into cyber security for the sole purpose of earning money is a mistake, warns Paul.
"A lot of people get into cybersecurity for the wrong reasons," he told Anyway. "Cybersecurity is a very wide and very deep career, and you need to be quite passionate about it to do well. There's a lot of research and continuous learning."
He continued: "When I interview graduates, a lot of their motivation comes purely from headlines about a skills shortage, and they're just looking for a job. The candidates who do really well [and move up quickly] in cybersecurity have a core passion for it and are really curious. Cybersecurity is for people who love the underlying technology and like learning how things work. If you want to learn how something works and how to break it, then cybersecurity is the field for you. But if you read a headline saying cyber is hot, go to uni and do the degree, and it's never really excited you, I think you'll struggle to find your groove."
*Not his real name.