In 10 years Australia will have jobs we haven’t yet dreamt of, but the people that we’ll need the most will be from an already well-known occupation – nursing.

Based on projections from the Federal Government’s Future Focus report, Australia will have between 5.6 million and 6.4 million job openings in Australia in the years to 2025.

Nurses are already in high demand in Australia, with projections showing it is expected to become the fastest growing occupation by 2050.

With an expanding – and ageing – population, and constantly evolving technology, there are likely to be new careers in technical, professional and managerial areas. This is true of the coming years as well as in the next decade.

Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency Workforce Development director Dr Kathie Barnes said there was going to be a greater need for high-level skills and management.

So if you are looking to get into the employment fast lane here are the statistics according to the Federal Employment Department:

Top three growth industries by 2025

1. Health care and social assistance – projected to increase by up to 798,000 jobs

2. Professional, scientific and technical services – projected to increase by up to 583,000 jobs

3. Education and training – projected to increase by up to 503,700 jobs

Top tertiary qualified jobs in 2025

1. Registered nurses
2. Advertising and sales managers
3. Software and applications programmers
4. Accountants
5. CEO and Managing Directors
6. Secondary school teachers
7. Primary school teachers
8. Private tutors and teachers
9. Contract program and project administrators
10. General managers

Top vocational and trade jobs

1. Aged & Disabled Carers
2. Child Carers
3. Electricians
4. Nursing Support & Personal Care Workers
5. Construction Managers
6. Real Estate Sales Agents
7. Welfare Support Workers
8. Metal Fitters & Machinists
9. Plumbers
10. Education Aides

Why these areas

Dr Barnes said there were three driving forces behind future jobs growth.

“If we are looking at why, it is reflecting Australia’s projected increase in population and the impact of the ageing population particularly on health care and then changing technologies,” Dr Barnes said.

“So things like cloud computing, crowd sourcing, mobile technologies which are transforming industries the industry picture as it is now is not going to be the same.”

The areas with the lowest growth are sales workers, labourers and machinery drivers and operators.

The big picture

When looking to the future as a whole, Australia’s job market is looking a little like Marilyn Monroe’s hourglass figure – lots of jobs at the top and at the bottom, with slim pickings in between.

Routine jobs like bookkeeping and factory work are being replaced by technology, so Hays Recruitment managing director Nick Deligiannis says to look for jobs where technology increases productivity, rather than replaces the worker.

“Demand for labour in routine low-skilled occupations that computers and machines cannot replace, like cooking, cleaning, building or driving, has increased.

“So the middle group of semi-skilled workers will get squeezed out in this ‘hour glass’ phenomenon as employment rises at the top and bottom ends of the skills ladder.”

An example used was that of a mechanic, which technology is turning into a low skill role. The money, and the progress is now at the front of house dealing with customer relations.

Mr Deligiannis said to look towards the growth industries of health and education where jobs can not be outsourced.

“We would also advise them to focus on sectors where developed nations have an advantage, such as pharmaceuticals and business services, or that involve face-to-face contact, such as healthcare and education since these cannot be outsourced to developing nations.