CEO Ross McEwan is bullish about the Australian economy, but in a tight labour market with low immigration he simply can’t find the tech staff he needs onshore.
has spurred National Australia Bank to set up operations in Vietnam and India to execute digital, technical and IT functions for which the bank cannot find staff in Australia.
It plans to establish a similar hub in Gurgaon, near Delhi in India, over the coming months to support growth in technology-driven businesses like its 86 400 Holdings digital home loans and the recently acquired Citi consumer business.Mr McEwan was bullish about Australia’s economic prospects, but faced a specific challenge in the tight labour market. He said NAB had about 700 vacancies in its data, digital and technology areas, and it “affects the work you can do”.
He said NAB was not alone in facing this problem: “Every employer I talk to, what do they want? They need more people.” The Indian innovation centre is in the process of being set up, and Mr McEwan said it might take on more functions as it went along.“What we have to do is make sure that the Indian workforce is part of our organisation: they cannot be seen as people sitting in India doing cheap work, they are part of the entire organisation.”
“A mistake many banks make is that they get into a market with a clear strategy and then they quietly broaden out - and find themselves in a business that they should never have been in, because they don’t have a competitive advantage,” he said. He described Australia as “pretty resilient”, and argued the experience of COVID-19 has prepared businesses for the possibility of an economic downturn.
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