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NAB CEO calls for more skilled migrant workers

The exterior of a NAB branch and professionals crossing a busy street in the Sydney CBD.
Aussie businesses are calling for open borders to fill labour shoratges. (Source: Getty)

Around 40 per cent of Aussie businesses are experiencing significant impacts from labour shortages, National Australia Bank (NAB) has found.

NAB Business Insight report found big businesses had been the hardest hit by the talent squeeze.

About four in 10 medium (38 per cent) and large (37 per cent) firms view labour shortages as a very significant issue, compared with three in 10 (31 per cent) of small businesses.

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NAB CEO Ross McEwan said bringing talent into Australia would be key to addressing the labour and skill shortages in the next 12 months.

“Australian businesses are facing significant skilled and unskilled labour shortages,” McEwan said.

“Almost every employer I talk to, from cafés, tourism, agriculture, and manufacturing, is saying ‘we can’t get workers’.

“Data scientists, digital experts and technology skills are also in high demand right across the economy. At NAB, we’re doing a lot of work to retrain and invest in our workforce and we now have more than 2,000 colleagues who are certified cloud-computing practitioners.”

McEwan said one solution was to allow more skilled migrant workers into the country to help fill positions.

“To get the economy really firing we will need to bring people into Australia and make sure, as a nation, we’re building a skilled workforce for the future,” he said.

The NAB report found 56 per cent of businesses want state and international borders to be opened.

a chart showing the extent that labour shortages are an issue.
(Source: NAB)

Industries most in need of workers

The NAB report found trade workers and professionals were the most common types of labour shortages, according to around one in three Australian firms.

Around one in five businesses also flagged sales workers, labourers, and machine operators and drivers as being areas of concern.

On the flipside, businesses reported that those who worked in digital data and personal services were the least in need.

By state, Western Australia tops the country with the highest number of businesses (44 per cent) identifying labour shortages as having a very significant impact on their businesses over the past three months – almost double the number in Tasmania (24 per cent).

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