OSCA 223233

Data Engineer

Overview

  • Employed persons

    3,100

  • Employment status

    92.4% Full time

    7.6% Part time

  • Median age

    36 years

  • Employment by sex

    21.2% Female

    78.8% Male

    Highly male dominated

  • Indigenous employment share

    0.0%

  • Main employing industry

    Professional, Scientific and Technical Services

Indicator Data Engineer Total employment
Employed persons 3,100 12,049,400
Median age 36 years 40 years
Full-time share 92.4% 64.2%
Part-time share 7.6% 35.8%
Female employment share 21.2% 48.5%
Male employment share 78.8% 51.5%
Gender segregation intensity scale Highly male dominated Gender balanced
Indigenous employment share 0.0% 2.2%
Main employing industry Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Health Care and Social Assistance
Note: N/A values indicate data are not available due to confidentiality or data reliability requirements.

Occupation overview

Data Engineers design, build, operationalise and maintain the systems and processes for storing, transforming and analysing datasets.

What the occupation involves

  • Builds, tests and maintains data pipelines to support analytics and data processing systems
  • Develops and optimises processes and tools for data extraction, transformation and loading
  • Identifies, designs and implements process improvements, including automating manual processing, optimising data delivery, and redesigning infrastructure for optimum scalability
  • Implements secure data handling and storage procedures, protects data privacy, and ensures compliance with regulations and best practices

Common occupation titles

No alternative occupation titles are listed for this occupation.

Specialisations

No specialisations are listed for this occupation.

Skill level (education and experience level)

Skill level 1
equivalent to a university level qualification (Bachelor degree or higher).

Note: While skill levels are described using formal education levels, some people use a combination of informal learning, on-the-job training and personal experience to achieve an equivalent level.

Licensing or registration requirements

No licensing or registration requirements are listed for this occupation.

OSCA structure

Employment

On this page

    Industries

    Top 10 most common industries, 2021

    Data Engineer Total employment
    Industry Share of occupation Industry Share of occupation
    Professional, Scientific and Technical Services 30.8% Health Care and Social Assistance 14.5%
    Financial and Insurance Services 20.8% Retail Trade 9.1%
    Public Administration and Safety 8.7% Construction 8.9%
    Information Media and Telecommunications 6.9% Education and Training 8.8%
    Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services 4.0% Professional, Scientific and Technical Services 7.8%
    Retail Trade 3.1% Public Administration and Safety 6.6%
    Mining 2.9% Accommodation and Food Services 6.5%
    Education and Training 2.8% Manufacturing 5.9%
    Administrative and Support Services 2.3% Transport, Postal and Warehousing 4.5%
    Health Care and Social Assistance 2.0% Financial and Insurance Services 3.7%
    Note: N/A values indicate data are not available due to confidentiality or data reliability requirements.

    States and territories

    Employment distribution by states and territories, 2021

    • New South Wales

      35.5%

    • Victoria

      35.1%

    • Queensland

      11.7%

    • South Australia

      4.3%

    • Tasmania

      0.6%

    • Northern Territory

      0.1%

    • Australian Capital Territory

      4.0%

    Data Engineer Total employment
    State / Territory Employment Share of occupation Employment Share of occupation
    New South Wales 1,100 35.5% 3,684,200 30.6%
    Victoria 1,100 35.1% 3,162,900 26.2%
    Queensland 360 11.7% 2,444,100 20.3%
    South Australia 130 4.3% 839,400 7.0%
    Western Australia 280 9.0% 1,306,200 10.8%
    Tasmania 20 0.6% 254,700 2.1%
    Northern Territory 0 0.1% 107,000 0.9%
    Australian Capital Territory 120 4.0% 248,600 2.1%
    Note: N/A values indicate data are not available due to confidentiality or data reliability requirements.

    Age and sex

    Employment distibution by age group and sex, 2021

    Data Engineer

    Total employment

    Age group Data Engineer Total employment
    15–24 years 6.4% 14.3%
    25–34 years 35.8% 22.7%
    35–44 years 37.3% 22.3%
    45–54 years 14.1% 20.4%
    55–64 years 5.6% 15.3%
    65–74 years 0.8% 4.3%
    75 years and over 0.0% 0.6%
    Note: N/A values indicate data are not available due to confidentiality or data reliability requirements.
    Sex Data Engineer Total employment
    Female 21.2% 48.5%
    Male 78.8% 51.5%
    Note: N/A values indicate data are not available due to confidentiality or data reliability requirements.

    On this page

      OSCA occupation profiles data

      This file contains data available from the OSCA Occupation Profile page.

      Use of this data must include the relevant attribution text provided.

      OSCA Occupation data - 2021 Census.xlsx

      xlsx 1236447

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      Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA)

      Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA) is the skill-based classification used to categorise occupations across the Australian labour market. OSCA is used to define occupations across all official occupational statistics. OSCA replaces the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO).

      Each job is classified to one, and only one, group of jobs at each level of the classification with no overlaps. This prevents the accidental double-counting of roles within the Australian labour market. For more information about OSCA, visit the What is OSCA information page, or the ABS website.

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