CBA boss calls for local training boost amid skill shortfall

Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn says tackling the current tech worker shortage will require a concerted effort to boost to local worker training, as the nation’s biggest bank launches a new IT hub in Melbourne’s CBD.

“Even with skilled migration increasing, we need to grow more capability within Australia,” Comyn said on Thursday.

“I think it is one of those examples where there are opportunities on both sides. It can be investments going into the education system. For us, a lot of that is around partnerships. We’ve got a number of universities that we’re working with directly to increase our graduate intake.”

The federal government has announced it will hold a jobs summit at Parliament House in September, with shortages of key workers across the economy deemed a critical issue for Australian employers.

Tech workers are particularly in-demand as the Australian economy emerges from the pandemic, with Tesla chair Robyn Denholm last month predicting a boom in Western Sydney, as a tech-savvy workforce becomes a prerequisite in the digital economy.

On Thursday, CBA announced it had launched a new office for 400 software developers, cloud engineers and cyber specialists on Collins Street in Melbourne. The bank has also partnered with Monash University and RMIT University to allow tech students to complete placements at CBA.

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Commonwealth Bank chief information officer for technology, Brendan Hopper, said the hubs “aren’t for everyday work for tech workers” and were instead for team collaboration and connection to the business. He said the company wanted to support staff who wanted greater flexibility, including those who wished to regularly work from home.

“By and large, for people who are doing engineering and tech work, if they are writing code on a screen, I’m very happy for them to do that multiple days a week in their pyjamas at home and then just come in when they need to,” Hopper said.