The National Skills Commission (NSC) has released its Employment Outlook to November 2025.

Based on the NSC’s 2020 employment projections, it gives insight into the change the Australian labour market faces over the medium term as it recovers from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As with all such exercises, these employment projections are subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty, which has been exacerbated by both the volatility resulting from the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and from the recent re-introduction of restrictions, which has impacted a large proportion of Australia’s population,” the paper’s introduction reads.

“These employment projections are based on forecast and projected total employment growth rates published in the 2020−21 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) and implicitly follow the assumptions made in that publication.”

The employment projections provide data and insights about the likely trajectory of employment in sectors and occupations in the labour market to assist employers, job seekers and policy makers understand where the job opportunities are likely to be in the future to make informed planning decisions.

The report outlines the employment outlook across industries, occupations, skill levels, states and territories, and regions.

Key insights include mining employment expected to be one of the biggest growth industries, increasing by 21,700 (8.3%).

Mining employment is predicted to spike by 16,200 in Western Australia, marking the second largest contribution to projected employment growth (18.7 per cent).

This mining growth is expected to play a vital part in WA’s overall employment growth, forecast to rise by 86,600 or 6.4 per cent.

In six of the seven industries that are projected to grow above the national average growth rate, the majority of employment is located in the capital cities, with the mining industry being the only exception.