Skills shortages persist despite surge in job applicants

Morgan McKinley has published its 2026 Australia Salary Guide, describing a recruitment market where employers are seeing heavy application volumes but still struggling to fill specialist roles in finance transformation, risk, AI, data and cybersecurity.

The guide points to a shift away from broad hiring drives towards more selective processes, with salary premiums targeted at scarce skills rather than across-the-board pay growth.

Employers are placing greater emphasis on skills-based screening and structured assessment. Salary transparency and longer-term workforce planning are also becoming priorities as firms compete for specialist talent.

Finance demand

In accounting and finance, hiring remained steady across commerce, industry and financial services. Demand stayed strong for FP&A, commercial finance and financial control roles, as well as regulatory reporting experience.

Shortages continue in finance transformation and finance-and-systems roles. Salary movement was moderate overall, with stronger outcomes concentrated among candidates who combine finance knowledge with data and systems expertise.

Roles most in demand include management accountants and finance business partners, FP&A analysts and FP&A managers, financial controllers, commercial finance managers, and systems accountants and finance transformation specialists.

Contractor reliance

Across projects, strategy and change, permanent hiring slowed as organisations tightened cost control. Contractors remained central to delivery for regulatory and transformation programmes.

Demand is being driven by operational resilience and regulatory change, including CPS 230, cybersecurity, AML Tranche 2 and third-party risk. Salary levels were broadly flat, with higher contractor rates reserved for niche areas where demand is urgent and the talent pool is limited.

Program and project managers, business analysts and change managers, portfolio governance leads and PMO specialists, and strategy managers remain in demand.

Risk pressures

Risk and compliance hiring remained resilient, supported by expanding regulatory obligations and emerging risk domains.

Demand continues for operational risk, financial crime, AML/CTF, cybersecurity and AI-related risk specialists. Hiring is also shifting away from short-term uplift recruitment towards building longer-term capability through permanent roles.

Pay rises were selective. Candidates are also weighing flexibility, wellbeing and role scope alongside pay when making career decisions.

Roles most in demand include operational risk managers and senior managers, AML and CTF managers, financial crime managers, cyber and technology risk specialists, third-party risk managers and analysts, and heads of risk and compliance.

Tech premiums

Technology hiring stabilised after several years of rapid growth. Broad salary increases have plateaued, while specialist roles continue to attract premiums.

AI engineers, data and analytics professionals, and cybersecurity specialists remain in high demand. Employers are also focusing on candidates who can demonstrate commercial outcomes and measurable returns from technology work.

Roles flagged include AI engineers, machine learning engineers and data scientists, as well as cybersecurity specialists, data engineers, data governance specialists, and cloud and DevOps engineers.

More CVs, same gaps

The guide argues that high application volumes have not made hiring easier, citing a mismatch between the number of candidates and the specific skills needed for transformation, regulatory work and security.

Dominic Bareham, managing director of Morgan McKinley Australia, said the trend is changing how employers approach recruitment and selection.

"The findings point to a shift in hiring priorities. Recruitment is no longer about filling roles quickly, but about finding the right cultural and skill fit in a market where applications are plentiful, but precision is everything. We're seeing employers receive more CVs than ever, often highly polished, yet still struggle to secure the specialist capabilities they need to move their businesses forward," Bareham said.

The guide also links hiring outcomes to factors beyond base pay, including leadership quality, learning and development, flexibility and employee experience.

"As we head into 2026, organisations that succeed will be those that invest in more rigorous, skills-based hiring, transparent and competitive pay, and strong leadership. Salary alone is no longer the differentiator - candidates are looking at flexibility, development and purpose alongside remuneration. Employers who get this balance right will not only attract scarce talent, but retain it in an increasingly competitive market," Bareham said.