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In a recent article for The Age, Catherine Armitage asks if codies are the new tradies, and cites Johnson emphasising the importance of students continuing their maths studies as a foundational skill for the careers of the future.

Armitage points to the collapse of the manufacturing industry and a downturn in the mining sector in Australia, that will leave tens of thousands of blue collar workers without a job. Her Age article investigates how programing is likely to be the next big blue-collar category, offering occupations similar to skilled factory work.

Andrew Johnson is quoted saying, “Just as sparkies and plumbers and other tradies have been the engine room of the industrial economy, codies will be the engine room of the digital economy.”

Maths remains at the core of many of these new opportunities, and are not all for the mathematically gifted. “A growing number of positions are much more mainstream” Raman Nambiar of the Coder Factory Academy points out. A number of coding training facilities are now targeting this field and according to Nambiar, “it can be learned fairly quickly, just like a vocation skill.”

Johnson acknowledges that Australian primary school students are not getting enough access to grassroots coding initiatives which is leaving them at a disadvantage internationally. But for high school students, he recommends, "Do not let go of maths! It's a foundational skill, totally transferable in a digital world. If you stick with maths you are going to be in a good place."

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