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About Sydney and NSW > People, skills and education

Employed Persons by Occupation

Sydney is Australia's global city, and its business and financial capital. Sydney has the highest concentration of managers and professionals of any capital city in Australia.

Sydney also boasts the largest number of knowledge workers, including managers, professionals, and clerical and administrative workers of all Australian cities. About 23% of Australian employment across these occupational classes was located in Sydney as at February 2009. Regional New South Wales also accounts for significant employment in these occupations, plus large numbers of technicians and trades workers and machinery operators and drivers.


Employed persons by occupation, 2009 ('000)

Occupation (1) Sydney (2) Balance of NSW (3) Total NSW Australia Sydney as a % of NSW
Managers 274.9 160.8 435.6 1,379.7 31.6
Professionals 571.1 190.8 761.9 2,243.2 34.0
Technicians and Trades Workers 299.4 191.4 490.8 1,638.7 29.9
Community and Personal Service Workers 179.4 110.6 290.0 947.7 30.6
Clerical and Administrative Workers 367.0 160.8 527.9 1,646.5 32.1
Sales Workers 197.3 116.7 314.0 1,015.2 30.9
Machinery Operators and Drivers 129.8 90.5 220.3 724.4 30.4
Labourers 197.3 147.5 344.9 1,162.0 29.7
Total employed 2,216.1 1,169.2 3,385.3 10,757.5 31.5


Footnotes:
1: Based on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, second edition.
2: Sydney Major Statistical Region (MSR) based on the Statistical Region structure of the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC), 2006.
3: Balance of NSW MSR..

Source: ABS Cat. No. 6291.0.55.003, February 2009. Four-quarter averages are used to smooth volatility in quarterly figures.