Kehinde Aluko, J. Burgess, Isaac Akomea-Frimpong
Purpose This study examines how emerging technologies are influencing career development in Australian local government and the organisational responses to manage workforce adaptation in the context of ongoing digital transformation. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a sequential two-stage qualitative design. Stage one involved 30 semi-structured interviews with local government managers and industry experts to explore experiences of digital transformation and career development. Stage two involved analyses of 56 council documents to validate and contextualise emerging themes from the interviews and mapped organisational strategies supporting workforce adaptation. Findings The findings suggest that digital transformation in Australian local government is leading to gradual but ongoing job redesign, with more hybrid roles and increased demand for cross-functional skills across different types of work. As a result, organisations are mainly responding through redeployment, upskilling, and internal mobility pathways. However, the impact is uneven, as some employees benefit from new opportunities while other, particularly older workers or those less confident with digital tools, experience anxiety, skill mismatches, and reduced career control. Research limitations/implications The study contributes to public sector management debate by illustrating how institutional arrangements impact career outcomes under rapid digital transformation. Practical implications The findings offer insights for public sector managers seeking to align digital capability development with workforce sustainability and organisational resilience. Originality/value This study extends public sector management literature by empirically demonstrating how institutional employment protections and organisational practices mediate the career impacts of digital transformation in local government.