Job hunters again told agriculture will help lead pandemic recovery

But the rosy future of farming comes with a warning on the aging workforce.

Australia has long wrestled of how to attract young people to agriculture.

Some farmers have to delay retirement and face the possibility of selling the family farm.

The risk is there will be a lack of experienced farmers to train these younger farmers.

The median age of workers across all industry groups in Australia is 40 while in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector it is 49.

The nation's "in-demand jobs" have been highlighted as part of National Skills Week to be held from August 23 to 29.

Research prepared for the week's launch seeks to highlight the skills critical to Australia's recovery out of the coronavirus pandemic.

This research provides a pointer to the areas where the future is bright for workers.

And like agriculture, it shows the challenges ahead to keep the foot on the accelerator.

The top jobs:

An objective of National Skills Week is to identify and highlight industries with the most in-demand jobs of the future as well as sectors forecast to see the biggest growth in coming years.

The aim is to ensure Australians can gain the training and education they need to secure those jobs and maintain stable long-term employment.

At a national level, the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry has the oldest age profile of any industry, according to the Department of Employment.

The need for succession planning strategies to mitigate against skills and labour shortages is a clear priority for agriculture, research has identified.

The Agriculture Workforce Digital Capability Framework project investigated the digital capabilities required by agricultural workers in order to address any gaps in the ability to meet future demand.

The project also provided a framework to develop education pathways for upskilling the agricultural workforce to better adopt technology.

Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business Minister Stuart Robert asked Australians to consider the nation's training and education needs in preparing people for work for the future, especially in a post-pandemic economy.

MORE READING: Scholarship help leads to a dairy dream.

National Skills Week founder Brian Wexham said it was critical school leavers, job seekers, parents and career changers are informed of what the jobs of the future are, and what Australia's most critical skills shortages and jobs needs are.

"This will ensure our young people, yet to start careers, can gain training and skills in education which is going to secure them a job at the end of that training. There's no point being educated if there's no job at the end of it.

"Further, it will assist in funnelling Australia's labour market into the training opportunities which are most likely going to lead to their employment ie the most in-demand jobs of the future."

Health and community care - The Human Services Skills Organisation estimates Australia needs one million Health and Community Care workers by 2050 and highlights that human services is Australia's fastest growing sector.

Disability care - An extra 83,000 NDIS workers are expected to be required by 2024, bringing the total NDIS workforce to over 350,000.

Cyber security - 18,000 additional cybersecurity professionals required to ensure Australia's digital security by 2026.

Hospitality - More than 35,000 vacancies currently available nationally.

STEM - An additional 271,300 jobs in STEM needed by 2023, representing a 10.8% growth in jobs.

Mining - An extra 40,000 resources workers over the next two years needed in WA.

Building and construction - 113,700 more workers needed by 2024. In bricklaying, carpentry, painting, plastering, plumbing and electrical trades: all trades are experiencing skills shortages in NSW, Tasmania and the ACT Victoria and SA have shortages in most trades (excluding painting in Victoria and plumbing in SA). Qld has a shortage of plumbers in the regions and bricklayers in all areas. WA has no identified shortages and the NT only has a shortage of plumbers.

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