What moved on the 2025 shortage list: the big changes

The 2025 Occupation Shortage List (released October 2025) removed 59 occupations from national shortage and added 29, taking the total from 303 to 273 — the second straight year of easing from 2023's peak of 332. The headline story: the white-collar shortage is over, the tech shortage is over, and the trades shortage barely budged.

The numbers

From our year-over-year comparison of JSA's 2024 and 2025 lists:

• 273 occupations in national shortage in 2025 (29.8%), down from 303 (33.1%) in 2024 and 332 (36.2%) in 2023
• 59 occupations left national shortage; 29 entered
• Every state eased: Victoria most (339 → 277), South Australia least (307 → 289)
• JSA's own framing: "shortages ease but gaps persist"

Who left the list

Tech, decisively. Software Engineer, Developer Programmer, Analyst Programmer, Multimedia Specialist, Penetration Tester, two cyber security occupations, Network Analyst and ICT Quality Assurance Engineer all dropped out of national shortage in 2025. Two years ago "learn to code" was shortage-list advice; the 2025 list says the national market found its coders. (Interesting wrinkle: cyber roles stayed short in the ACT and a few states.)

Professional engineering. Chemical, Materials, Electronics, Industrial, Mechanical and Production/Plant Engineers all exited nationally — though several remain short in Queensland, SA and the NT.

White-collar generalists. Sales and Marketing Manager, Internal Auditor, Recruitment Consultant, Financial Investment Adviser, Architect.

Some care and health roles — Social Worker, Nursing Support Worker, Personal Care Assistant, Optometrist and three nursing-adjacent occupations (educator, researcher, nec) — eased off the national list, several persisting at state level (WA kept its care shortage almost entirely).

Who joined

The 29 newcomers skew hands-on and specific: Bus Driver and Charter/Tour Bus Driver, Intensive Care Ambulance Paramedic, Chiropractor, Osteopath, Dental Specialist, Helicopter Pilot, Master Fisher, Ship's Officer, sawmilling and wood-processing operators, Deck Hand, Autoglazier, plus several trades returning or arriving — Precision Instrument Maker, Saw Doctor, Jeweller, Electronic Instrument Trades Worker, Surveying Technician, and Electrical Engineering Technician (the list's only metro-only shortage).

What didn't move — and that's the story

The construction, electrical, plumbing, automotive, metal and food trades held their ratings almost without exception: 65 trades have now been in national shortage every year since 2021. Registered nurses (12 of 13 specialties), midwives, teachers across all levels, and childcare and aged-care workers also stayed short.

Our read: the 2023–2025 easing cleared the cyclical shortages — the ones born of the post-pandemic hiring frenzy. What's left after two years of cooling is the structural core: work that takes years to train into and hasn't attracted enough entrants for a decade. That core is trades, health, teaching and care. (The movement counts are JSA's data; the cyclical/structural framing is ours.)

What this means for a family decision

A teenager choosing a path today shouldn't chase last year's headline. Tech's exit from the list doesn't mean coding is a bad career — it means demand normalised and entry got more competitive. Equally, the trades' refusal to leave the list through a two-year easing is about the strongest evidence of durable demand this data can produce. Check any occupation's full five-year strip at /occupations before weighting one year's move.

What this doesn't tell you

Leaving the shortage list means hiring difficulty eased — not that jobs vanished. There are vastly more employed software engineers than saw doctors; the list measures the gap, not the size. Year-to-year comparisons also inherit JSA's methodology refinements, and one-year moves can reverse — Security Officer, for example, entered national shortage in 2022 and left it in 2025 while staying short in three states. Treat 2025's changes as the newest chapter, not the whole book.

FAQ

Which jobs came off Australia's shortage list in 2025?

Fifty-nine occupations left national shortage, led by tech (software engineers, developers, cyber security roles), professional engineering (chemical, mechanical, electronics, industrial), white-collar business roles, architects and optometrists, plus some care roles that remain short in specific states.

Which jobs were added to the shortage list in 2025?

Twenty-nine entered, including bus drivers, intensive care paramedics, chiropractors, osteopaths, dental specialists, helicopter pilots, maritime crew (master fishers, ship's officers, deck hands), wood-processing operators and several precision trades.

Is Australia's skills shortage getting better?

Numerically yes: 29.8% of occupations in national shortage in 2025, down from 36.2% in 2023. But the easing is uneven — it came almost entirely from professional and office occupations, while trades, health, teaching and care barely moved. Fewer shortages, same stubborn core.

Is software engineering still a good career if it's off the list?

Being off the list means employers can fill roles — not that the field is dying. It signals more competition for entry-level spots than the 2022–2024 boom years. Demand for the occupation as a whole remains large; the shortage is what ended. (That distinction is exactly what the list is for.)