There has been a shift in the Aussie job market as workers seek security. (Source: Getty)
Some five millions Aussies are considering switching jobs despite many workers being worried about difficult labour market conditions in 2026. And some industries are becoming more appealing than others as concerns grow about the potential disruption of white collar industries in the years ahead as AI and automation improve.
Jobs site Indeed has produced a list of “the best” jobs in Australia as 33 per cent of workers around the country say they believe job hunting will be harder this year. Meanwhile more than half of Aussies say they are worried about economic uncertainty, increased competition and fewer job opportunities.
Lauren Anderson, Indeed’s Workplace Expert, isn’t surprised so many people are keen for a new job despite their concern about how hard it might be to actually land it.
“We’re seeing inflation tip above real wage gains again, which is makes people uncomfortable,” she told Yahoo Finance.
“So I think logically, if they’re feeling the pinch, they are open to considering new opportunities.”
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Indeed has produced what it thinks are the best jobs in the country right now based on a handful of key factors – with salary, demand and job security chief among them.
“Those five factors were median wage, wage growth, the volume of postings, but also the posting growth over the year, and then also looking at the share of those roles offering remote work,” Anderson explained.
Many of the top roles are based around physical human expertise and specialised skills – areas that are harder to automate and are experiencing ongoing worker shortages.
The healthcare sector is a dominant theme on the list with jobs such as a Physiotherapist (with an average advertised salary of $92,000), Senior Occupational Therapist ($116,000), Podiatrist ($100,000), Clinic Coordinator ($115,000) and Nurse Practitioner ($148,000) among the healthcare jobs appearing.
Anderson noted that Australia doesn’t have mandatory transparency laws, so average salary number is “based on the available data” with not all advertised roles – particularly the higher ones – revealing the level of pay.
Job Title
Average Salary
Speech Pathologist
$99,500
Senior Lawyer
$119,000
Occupational Therapist
$99,000
Chef
$75,000
Nurse Practitioner
$148,000
Mortgage Broker
$100,000
Podiatrist
$100,000
Solicitor
$114,000
Exercise Physiologist
$91,000
Cybersecurity Specialist
$129,000
Radiologic Technologist
$105,000
Cook
$75,000
Provisional Fellow
$139,000
Clinician
$107,000
Physiotherapist
$92,000
Research Fellow
$125,000
Senior Occupational Therapist
$116,000
IT Technician
$80,000
Senior Clinician
$120,000
Clinic Coordinator
$115,000
More than two in five Australians (44 per cent) worry AI and automation will reduce the number of roles available, while 42 per cent believe it will be difficult to find the flexibility and working conditions they desire.
Anderson said people are not necessarily making major life decisions around their work based on the rise of AI, but suggested it was increasingly an “influencing factor”.
“The sentiment that we can see in the research is that it’s not necessarily a driving force… [but] the vibe is ‘I’m scared’. The vibe is ‘I’m nervous’, but that is part of a larger kind of issue – I’m nervous about flexibility. I’m nervous about how much money I can bring into my home. I’m nervous about AI,” she said.
It reflects research released this week from graduate survey data that showed health degrees are the fastest-growing field of study in the state of Victoria as young Australians make practical career choices based on demand and job security.
Lauren Anderson, Workplace Expert at Indeed, says workers are circumspect about job prospects at the moment. (Source: Indeed/Getty)
The trend predicts nursing and psychology will overtake design, media and arts as the most popular degrees by the end of the decade.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Melbourne’s Swinburne University of Technology, Professor Laura-Anne Bull, said students were focused on transferable skills and ensuring they had a job at the end of their study.
“Demand’s very much shifted to courses with clear employment outcomes more like education and nursing,” she told The Herald Sun.
“I think that really does reflect where we are with cost of living and the labour market.”
Career expert at Indeed, Sally McKibbin, said that desire for stability was certainly evident in the nationally representative survey of more than 2,000 Australian workers it carried out.
“We’re seeing job stability emerge as a strong priority for Australians planning their next move. What matters most in 2026 are transferable human skills which remain in demand across many industries, even as hiring slows,” she said
“Salary will always be a top factor for job seekers, but in a cooling market, job security and ongoing flexibility may be what tips a jobseeker into accepting or rejecting a job offer.”
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