The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released new census data outlining the nature of the country’s workforce.

 

The data shows that Australia’s unskilled workforce is on the decline, with Census Executive Director Andrew Henderson saying the latest data shows a significant shift in the state of Australia’s workforce.

 

“Census data provides a valuable insight into growth and development of Australia, our people and our workforce,” Mr Henderson said.



Labourers now account for 9.4 per cent of Australia’s labour force, a 1.1 percentage point decrease since the last Census. In 2006, Labourers were reported in the top five most common occupations in Australia, accounting for 10.5 per cent, but they are now sitting in sixth position. 

 

Professionals are still the most commonly reported occupations in Australia, accounting for 21.3 per cent of the labour force. Professionals include arts and media, business and human resources, sales, marketing and public relations, design and engineering, science and transport professionals. 


Clerical and Administrative Workers (14.7 per cent), Technicians and Trade Workers (14.2 per cent) and Managers (12.9 per cent) were the next most commonly reported occupations, consecutively. 



Of the top five most common occupations, Community and Personal Service Workers saw the second largest increase (0.9 percentage point) in the proportion of people reporting an occupation in this field, and now accounts for 9.7 per cent of Australia’s labour force. Community and Personal Service Workers include health and welfare support workers, carers and aides, hospitality workers, protective service workers and sports and personal services workers.

 

Data from the 2011 Census of Population and Housing is now available on the ABS website. Visit www.abs.gov.au/census