Human resources and technology top jobs in 2022

A report released by LinkedIn on Tuesday found human resources and technology roles are on the rise, according to data analysed up to July 2021.

LinkedIn career expert Cayla Dengate said the report provides an insight into where Australia's workforce is heading and the long-term opportunities for job seekers.

"We're seeing big movements in HR and tech roles, with specifically engineering-focused jobs having been some of the fastest-growing positions over the past five years," she said.

The position of chief human resources officer (CHRO) led the list of fastest-growing jobs in Australia over the past five years, according to a list compiled and released by LinkedIn. The 2022 LinkedIn Jobs on the Rise showed which positions saw the highest growth rates from January 2017 through July 2021. 

To be ranked, a job title needed to see consistent growth across Linkedin’s membership base, as well as have grown to a meaningful size by 2021.

On top of the list was the position of CHRO, followed by machine learning engineer, and then site reliability engineer. The position of head of engineering stood out for having the highest cap on salary range from $137,000 to $236,000. 

The top jobs as listed by LinkedIn were chief human resources officer, machine learning engineer, site reliability engineer, power system engineer, data engineer, talent acquisition specialist, business development representative, content designer, cyber security specialist, client partner, back end developer, operations support officer, workforce specialist, head of engineering, and user experience researcher.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data also shows that managers and professionals had the highest average hourly earnings of all occupations in May 2021.

Managers had an average hourly earnings of $65.10 and Professionals $57.90, compared with an overall average of $42.50, while sales workers and labourers had the lowest average hourly earnings ($30.50 and $31.00).

Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS, said hourly earnings comparisons are useful in understanding gender pay differences, beyond weekly earnings measures, given men are more likely to work full-time than women.

“On average, men earned $44.50 an hour, compared to $40.20 an hour for women. Average hourly earnings were higher for men than women in all eight occupation groups,” he said.

"In dollar terms, the difference between male and female average hourly earnings was greatest for managers ($11.50) and professionals ($8.50), and lowest for machinery operators and drivers ($3.80). In percentage terms, the difference was greatest for community and personal service workers (19 per cent) and managers (16 per cent), and lowest for machinery operators and drivers (10 per cent)."