Displaced workers in Australia report - 29 Sept 2026

Key data from the displaced workers report 2015-2025

How has Australia’s displacement rate changed?

The media release highlights a clear shift: fewer Australians are experiencing job displacement than a decade ago. The reported displacement rate fell from around 6 percent in 2015 to 4 percent in 2025. For migration agents, visa applicants and education providers, this signals a labour market where workers are still losing jobs, but at a lower overall rate.

Which industries are seeing more - and less - job loss?

Traditional ‘at risk’ industries are no longer the only story. The release states that displacement rates in mining, manufacturing and construction have declined over the decade to 2025. In contrast, professional and service-based industries have experienced an increase in redundancy-related displacement, altering where risk sits in the labour market.

How is the profile of displaced workers changing?

The profile of affected workers is changing. Jobs and Skills Australia reports that post-displacement outcomes are uneven across different types of occupations and that highly skilled professionals in industries like finance, media and IT are not immune to displacement. This shifts the narrative away from only lower-skilled or blue-collar roles being exposed.

• Outcomes after job loss vary by occupation type.
• Highly skilled professionals can still experience displacement.
• Industries mentioned include finance, media and IT.
• Traditional assumptions about “who is at risk” are being challenged.

What happens to workers after displacement?

Jobs and Skills Australia Deputy Commissioner Trevor Gauld explains that displaced workers are generally finding new employment more readily and experiencing smaller earnings losses than in the past decade. While detailed numbers sit inside the full report, the media release clearly links lower displacement with relatively better re-employment and earnings outcomes.

"The number of displaced workers has declined and workers are generally finding new employment more readily and experiencing smaller earnings losses than in the past decade."

The release also clarifies that the 2015-2025 stocktake does not observe the impacts of emerging technologies such as AI on displacement. Instead, it is presented as a baseline to understand how those impacts might emerge over time and how monitoring and supports could be modernised.

Analysis: what these displacement trends mean for migration and training

For migration agents, visa applicants and education providers, the shift from mining, manufacturing and construction towards professional and service-based displacement alters which clients and cohorts may be more exposed to redundancy. Our analysis of ImmiIQ data often intersects with such labour market signals when assessing skilled visa prospects or course planning.

Falling overall displacement from around 6% to 4% suggests a labour market where workers are less likely to be forced into job change, yet the concentration of redundancy in metropolitan Sydney and Melbourne hints at localised shocks that could affect employer-sponsored visa continuity, especially for professional roles anchored in those cities’ CBDs.

The mention of finance, media and IT professionals being affected challenges a long-held assumption that these roles are consistently insulated from displacement. This single line matters for agents managing skilled visas linked to these sectors, for applicants choosing occupations from ANZSCO-based lists and for providers designing courses aligned to those fields.

Another key nuance is that while AI impacts are not observed in this 2015-2025 snapshot, Jobs and Skills Australia explicitly frames the report as a baseline to understand how emerging technologies might influence future displacement and how supports for displaced workers might be better targeted. That baseline framing raises an obvious question: how will future data compare?

Next steps: using the displaced workers report in practice

The media release confirms that the Recent trends for displaced workers in Australia report is available on the Jobs and Skills Australia website. For anyone working with skilled migration or training decisions, this is the primary source for the detailed data behind the summary findings. Lowest since September 2025.

1. 01Access the full Recent trends for displaced workers in Australia report via the Jobs and Skills Australia publications page linked in the release.
2. 02Compare industry and regional displacement patterns with current occupation demand signals, visa options and points-based pathways.
3. 03For clients or students in finance, media, IT or other professional services, consider how increased redundancy-related displacement might intersect with their chosen occupation or study path.
4. 04Keep an eye on future Jobs and Skills Australia updates for any follow-up analysis that incorporates AI-related displacement once data becomes available.

This media release does not provide detailed tables by occupation or ANZSCO code, so any occupation-level interpretation remains high level. For fine-grained occupation analysis, readers may wish to cross-reference the report with tools like the Occupation Shortage List or state-level views via ImmiIQ state dashboards.

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