A new report reveals that the local iOS ecosystem has grown 27% in two years. It now employs approximately 174,000 Australians.
When we think of online design and visual communication here in Australia, we think of our $60 billion homegrown hero, Canva. But according to Apple, we should also be keeping an eye on Aussie apps Procreate, Tantissa, Crunchy Bagel, and SMG which is hiring for local talent.
A report from PPI released this week reveals that the local iOS ecosystem has grown 27% in two years. It now employs approximately 174,000 Australians. Jobs span across app development, maintenance and security according to the report.
“None of these jobs existed 15 years ago, when Apple first opened the App Store in 2008 in the middle of the global financial crisis. Android Market (which later became Google Play) was announced by Google shortly after. These app stores created a new route through which software developers could write programs for smartphones. These mobile applications could then be distributed to the rapidly growing number of smartphone users around the world,” the report reads.
The demand cultivated through the global Google Play and App Store marketplaces is vital to building the capacity of the future generation of tech talent.
“App development and the app stores became a key route by which young people can develop tech skills and became an integral part of the global digital economy,” according to the report.
Australian job postings are specifically looking for applicants with skills in Swift, Kotlin and React Native. These are also app development languages and frameworks that are needed in the U.S. employment landscape, the PPI report discloses.
The report points to Zanity, Desygner, Luxury Escapes, Xero, The Victoria Police, Sniip, Afterpay, Athena Home Loans, the Australian Retirement Trust, Concentrix and India’s Tata as looking for tech talent on our shores.
And while the Australian app ecosystem is growing, developing skills in app development can also lead to opportunities with larger app ecosystems in other countries — namely Germany, Korea, the U.K., and the U.S., according to the report.
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