I had coffee with a Bendigo manufacturing business owner last week who couldn’t understand why his IT manager job listing had been open for four months. The salary was competitive, the benefits were fine. What was going wrong?

The answer says a lot about how regional tech hiring has changed.

The Remote Work Reality

Before 2020, regional employers had a genuine advantage: lower cost of living, less commute stress, better lifestyle. People would take a pay cut to live in Ballarat or Bendigo.

That equation has flipped. Melbourne tech workers can now keep their Melbourne salaries while living anywhere. They’re not choosing between “regional job at regional pay” and “city job with city commute.” They’re choosing between “regional job at regional pay” and “city salary while working from their Ballarat house.”

Regional employers competing for the same talent need to recalibrate.

What’s Actually Working

The businesses having success with tech hiring in regional Victoria are doing a few things differently.

They’re being honest about on-site requirements. If you need someone in the office three days a week, say so upfront. Don’t advertise “flexible working” then reveal the expectations in the second interview. You’ll waste everyone’s time.

They’re emphasising growth, not just lifestyle. The lifestyle sell only works for people who’ve already decided they want to live regionally. For career-focused candidates, you need to show professional development opportunities, interesting technical challenges, and paths forward.

They’re networking locally harder. The La Trobe University Bendigo partnership programs are producing graduates who actually want to stay in the region. Same with Federation University in Ballarat. Building relationships with these institutions pays off.

The Skills Gap Is Real

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: some technical skills are genuinely hard to find regionally. If you need a specialised machine learning engineer or a cloud architect with specific certifications, your local candidate pool might be two people.

Some regional businesses are solving this with hybrid arrangements—one or two remote specialists supporting a local core team. Others are upskilling existing staff, which takes longer but builds more sustainable capability.

A Shepparton food processor I know hired a general IT person with good fundamentals and sent them through a data analytics certification program. Took 18 months, but now they have someone who understands both the technical work and the specific business context. That’s hard to hire for directly.

Salary Expectations Have Shifted

Regional salaries are rising faster than regional businesses expected. A software developer role that paid $80,000 in Ballarat three years ago probably needs to be $95,000-105,000 now.

Check the Tech Council of Australia salary data. Compare against Melbourne benchmarks, not historical regional rates. You don’t need exact parity, but you need to be in the conversation.

The Small Business Angle

If you’re a smaller business that can’t compete on salary, lean into other advantages. Small teams offer more variety in work, faster decision-making, and often more direct impact on business outcomes.

Some people genuinely prefer working for a business where they know everyone by name over being anonymous in a Melbourne corporate tech team. Find those people.

Looking Ahead

Regional Victoria’s tech sector is growing—Business Victoria data shows consistent expansion in the corridor from Geelong to Bendigo. But growth brings competition, both from other regional employers and from remote-first Melbourne companies.

The businesses that thrive will be the ones that understand what they’re actually competing against and adapt accordingly. The old playbook doesn’t work anymore.