SaaS Jobs Apocalypse Overblown, Shows Adaca Report

Record number of software developers working in Australia

SYDNEY, NSW, AUSTRALIA, June 8, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Adaca, one of Australia’s top technology services companies, with customers including ANZ, Qantas and the UN, has published a new report “Devs in record demand”. The report shows that despite AI layoff fears, there are now more software developers working in Australia than ever before according to the latest ABS labour force data 2026. Software development is increasingly dependent on skilled workers born overseas, but it is also one of the fastest growing occupations since 2015, and has grown, not shrunk, since the emergence of AI.

Key findings from the report include:
• There are now 216,000 software and applications programmers working in Australia
• This number is up from 189k in 2025, and has tripled (+217%) since 2006
• Software developer is the 24th fastest growing occupation in Australia since 2015, out of 702 occupations tracked by the ABS
• There are between 19,000 and 25,000 people working in software development in Australia with no form of higher education

“For all the doom and gloom surrounding AI layoffs, there is incredible cause for optimism,” said Adaca founder, Lambros Photios. “We are seeing devs displaced, not replaced. They are leaving big tech and finding work anywhere and everywhere else. When mid-market companies realise what they can achieve by hiring their first AI-powered dev team, every company will have one. We are in the golden age for Australian developers.”

The jobs data also shows a major homegrown skills gap and gender imbalance in the software development sector. Only one in five devs is female, and almost two thirds of developers (62%) were born outside Australia, up from 50% in 2006.

“The high ratio of developers born overseas suggests that the Australian software development sector is thriving through migration, not education,” continued Photios. “Tech and software skills are not well taught here compared to other countries. A lot of businesses sponsor skilled overseas workers, or offshore their software development needs abroad because it’s too hard to find the right skills. The gender divide is disappointing. Software development in Australia has always been a boy’s club, and not much has changed in 20 years. But I’m hopeful. It will be interesting to see if AI reduces barriers to entry and fundamentally changes the workforce demographic.”


About Adaca
Adaca is one of Australia’s top technology services companies. It works with mid market firms to solve the technology problems holding them back: legacy platforms consuming budgets, security threats introducing regulatory risk, and AI investments stuck in pilot. Trusted by ANZ, IAG, Bupa, and the United Nations, Adaca operates from Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, and Manila. Visit adaca.com.

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Mike Marquiss
Decoded Comms
mike@decodedcomms.com

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