New Indeed and ADB research shows Australians with advanced digital skills earn up to 26% more, says economist Callam Pickering.
Australians bringing digital skills to the workplace are commanding significantly higher salaries, according to a new joint research report from global job site Indeed and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The report, titled Skills That Pay 2026, analysed more than six million job postings across the Asia-Pacific region and found that digital skills attract a substantial wage premium. Workers with digital skills were even found to earn more than colleagues without them, despite doing the same role at the same company.
Jobs requiring basic digital skills pay around 4% more than roles requiring none, while positions needing intermediate digital capabilities attract an 11% premium. For workers with advanced digital skills, the salary boost climbs to approximately 26%.
The findings suggest employers now see digital skills as essential across almost every corner of the Australian job market. Indeed and ADB’s research found that nearly nine in ten job ads in the region now require some level of digital competency, with only 13% of ads not listing digital skills as a prerequisite.
Notably, the biggest shifts aren’t happening in tech. The report shows digital upskilling is increasingly concentrated in occupations that have historically not required much digital expertise. Roles in retail, customer service, education and healthcare are moving from basic digital literacy toward more advanced skills, including data analysis and familiarity with digital platforms and AI tools, as employers fold new technology into everyday operations.
By the end of 2025, 5.8% of Australian job postings referenced AI skills or capabilities, double the rate recorded a year earlier.
AI-related skills deliver an extra salary premium on top of existing digital capabilities, according to the report. Jobs requiring AI usage skills attract a further wage uplift of around 4%, while roles involving AI development can command an additional premium of approximately 6%.
Callam Pickering, Senior APAC Economist at Indeed, said digital skills are no longer a nice-to-have, they have become a baseline requirement for career progression and higher earnings. He noted that the strongest growth in digital skill requirements is happening in occupations not traditionally considered highly digital, and that Australians who invest in developing their digital capabilities are positioning themselves for better opportunities and stronger wage growth.
Pickering added that as technology reshapes virtually every occupation, digital literacy is becoming as fundamental as traditional literacy and numeracy.
Pickering said the findings point to a growing need for employers and policymakers to support digital upskilling initiatives as workforce requirements continue to evolve, and that the workers and organisations who invest in building digital capability today will be best positioned to thrive in the future labour market.
Silvia Garcia Mandico, Economist at the Asian Development Bank and one of the study’s co-authors, said the findings underscore the importance of expanding opportunities for workers to acquire and continuously upgrade their digital skills, so they can adapt to technological change and share in its benefits.
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Yajush writes for Dynamic Business and previously covered business news at Reuters.
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