{"id":959949,"date":"2026-11-11T00:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T00:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/959949\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T00:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T00:30:12","slug":"australias-highest-paying-and-most-in-demand-jobs-for-2026-expose-stunning-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/959949\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s highest-paying and most in-demand jobs for 2026 expose stunning gap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s most in-demand and highest-paying jobs have been revealed, as workers grapple with a grim end to the year punctuated by mass redundancies and growing AI fears.<\/p>\n

New data from the world\u2019s largest talent company reveals people-facing roles had the most vacancies in the face of signs that technology was reshaping the labour market.<\/p>\n

But data from Randstad also shows little correlation between the most sought-after workers and the highest paid, with corporate Australia facing a jobs reckoning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Aussie<\/p>\n

MORE:Unexpected high-paying roles that don\u2019t need a degree<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re definitely seeing that the demand is in areas where there are people skills needed, organisational skills, and those things that AI can\u2019t do,\u201d Randstad general manager Madeline Hill said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat customer service and customer experience type roles are definitely where things are increasing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The data released to news.com.au showed sales assistants, office clerks, registered nurses, GPs and medical officers and those in advertising, PR and sales made up the top five most in-demand jobs.<\/p>\n

Other hands-on roles like labourers, construction managers, retail, mechanics, and aged and disability carers rounded out the top 10.<\/p>\n

MORE:6-figure job you\u2019ve probably never heard of<\/a><\/p>\n

Tamara Black, a Canberran who works in disability care, said her job offered flexibility and human connection. But she said staff turnover in the industry could be high, with many working it as a second or even third job.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it\u2019s aged care or disability, there\u2019s always going to be a need for someone to be supported,\u201d Ms Black said. \u201cSo a bit of a hot commodity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only one career, construction management, was found in the list of the 10 most high-paid jobs \u2013 coming in at eighth and an average salary of $220,000.<\/p>\n

Ms Hill said the demand in this area and other trade roles were being driven by the uptick in AI infrastructure investment \u2013 like building data centres.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve also got lots of engineers, plumbers, thermal dynamic engineers and specialists, all needing to be engaged and a workforce stood up to ensure that happens,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we\u2019re seeing job losses in some areas, but \u2026 where industry is growing there are job vacancies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Signs of weaker hiring\u2019<\/p>\n

It comes as Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) chief economist Sarah Hunter spoke this week about the early signs of AI\u2019s disruption of the local jobs market. <\/p>\n

\u201cLike other major technological shifts, AI is likely to change the job market significantly,\u201d Ms Hunter said on Monday.<\/p>\n

She said the RBA was mindful labour indicators \u201cmay mask disruptive displacement effects\u201d for jobseekers, and noted \u201cemerging signs of weaker hiring\u201d in advanced economies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are tentative signs of adjustment, through weaker job ad posting and employment outcomes in more AI-exposed occupations, and stronger growth in areas where the technology has had less of an impact, particularly for younger workers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The central bank shared a graph showing how ads for jobs exposed to AI have tracked since ChatGPT was released in November 2022.<\/p>\n

It revealed a notable drop into early 2023 before recovering to a level similar to before the AI tool became available in 2025; however, there was another downward trend in 2026.<\/p>\n

Employment data also showed that younger workers aged 15 to 24 had faced lower employment than older workers, depending on how exposed their jobs were to AI.<\/p>\n

Ms Hunter said AI was \u201clikely to transform all aspects of work\u201d and warned that the benefits were \u201cunlikely to be distributed evenly\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome workers may face a difficult period of adjustment as demand for particular roles or tasks decline, which will weigh on income and spending by some households,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe strength of the consumption response will depend not only on the overall increase in income, but also on how broadly the gains are shared across the economy and the pathway for integrating the technology into our daily lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The highest paid jobs<\/p>\n

When it comes to the best-paid jobs in the country, there was little surprise in Randstad\u2019s list.<\/p>\n

Surgeon ($500,000), anaesthetist ($450,000), psychiatrist ($350,000), financial investment manager ($300,000) and airline pilots ($250,000) made up the top five.<\/p>\n

Corporate lawyers, IT systems architects, construction managers, mining engineers and data scientists earned on average, between $200,000 and $250,000 per year before bonuses.<\/p>\n

Data science was one white-collar profession Ms Hill saw the potential for significant growth in, due to booming demand for tech specialists across multiple industries.<\/p>\n

Ms Hill was not ringing alarm bells for those seeking careers in the corporate world just yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will still have the corporate roles there. I mean there is so much in corporate Australia that requires complex conversations and driving complex decisions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at banking, media, you still have that complexity there where it impacts humans. \u201cAnd so any of those roles, they\u2019re not going anywhere any time soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

There has been a noted rise in \u201cjob hugging\u201d, where employees were prioritising security over career development. <\/p>\n

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data showed that in the first half of 2026, 25 per cent of workers said they were planning to change jobs. <\/p>\n

But ABS job mobility statistics revealed only 7.2 per cent actually changed jobs \u2013 down from 17 per cent in the second half of 2025.<\/p>\n

Despite the doom and gloom in the media, Ms Hill said the desire for human centric jobs was a positive story for workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd as we see this AI boom continue there, there are jobs that are growing in relation to that as well,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it will unlock new opportunities for people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s \u2018redundancy season\u2019<\/p>\n

News.com.au last week reported recruitment firms had seen a spike in jobseeker registrations in recent months, while major firms have been shedding workers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sarah Donegan, managing director of recruitment firm Samuels Donegan, said Australia was in the midst of a \u201credundancy season\u201d \u2013 and she expects more hits to come before Christmas.<\/p>\n

Her agency noted a 250 per cent spike in jobseeker registrations in October, with nearly half of its registrations since March coming in the past two months.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m old enough to know that in years gone by, they would never make people redundant prior to Christmas. But now they just do it,\u201d Ms Donegan said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI hate to say it, but it feels like we are definitely a little bit more cutthroat.\u201d<\/p>\n

The official unemployment rate rose to 4.7 per cent in September, with more than 39,000 jobs going since the previous figures in August. Economists expect it to rise past 5 per cent.<\/p>\n

Business commentator and recruiter Tammie Ballis said the job market was a \u201cdumpster fire\u201d in 2026 thanks to the economic downturn and rise of artificial intelligence (AI).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought it was bad a couple of years ago in 2024, but now it\u2019s getting worse,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m finding a lot of people who have been made redundant can\u2019t get rehired. I\u2019m finding a lot of uni grads that have got corporate-style degrees \u2013 in finance, HR, marketing, cybersecurity \u2026 they\u2019re not getting a look in.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s most in-demand and highest-paying jobs have been revealed, as workers grapple with a grim end to 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