Worker shortage still a headache for firms: NAB’s new business boss
By Millie Muroi
The newly minted boss of National Australia Bank’s flagship business bank says local firms are still having trouble finding staff as they work their way out of softer economic conditions.
Rachel Slade, who was appointed to NAB’s biggest lending arm in April, said on Thursday that businesses in some sectors of the economy were coming up against challenges in the labour market.
“Getting labour is still the number-one challenge for businesses,” she said in an interview with this masthead. “It has settled down in some sectors, but we’re still seeing it [play out] in others such as civil services, construction and some specialised businesses.”
NAB group executive of business banking Rachel Slade said unemployment was the big thing to watch for the economy.Credit: Arsineh Houspian
Labour shortages have been a persistent problem for businesses over the past few years, with 36 per cent of occupations assessed by Jobs and Skills Australia last year in national shortage – 5 percentage points higher than in 2022.
“The big thing to watch for in the economy [over the next six to 12 months] is unemployment,” Slade said.
The Reserve Bank said in its most recent statement on monetary policy in May that the labour market remained tight with a more gradual easing than had been expected at its previous meeting in February. The unemployment rate was 4 per cent in March, above its 50-year low of 3.5 per cent in late 2022, but below the bank’s target.
NAB’s latest results showed that financial stress level among businesses was increasing, and Slade said while most businesses were in relatively good shape some were “doing it tough”.
“It [stress] has been ticking up, back towards the long-run average,” she said.
Slade, who served as the boss of NAB’s personal banking business for nearly four years before being appointed to the helm of its business bank, was widely considered a strong candidate to succeed former chief executive Ross McEwan. That role was subsequently handed to Andrew Irvine, who was previously head of NAB’s business bank in April.
Slade, roughly a month into the role, said most businesses she had spoken with across multiple states were confident that business conditions were improving.
“Lots of businesses are dealing with transition and succession, but we’re hearing basic resilience from hundreds of customers across Sydney, Melbourne, far north Queensland and especially Western Australia,” she said.
“They’re less worried about fuel prices, the impact of the pandemic, and like households, they’re building a bit of budgeting muscle.”
Slade said there was growing interest from the bank’s business customers in finance for green equipment, which she said had grown 80 per cent in the past six months.
According to the bank, demand for electric vehicles has grown 51 per cent, solar panels by 33 per cent and electric buses by 168 per cent over the past six months.
NAB business bank boss Rachel Slade said she has travelled more than 10,000 kilometres speaking to business owners.
Asked about NAB’s heartland, business banking, Slade said the market remained “super competitive” and that she was not surprised competitors were trying to talk to their business customers.
While NAB has long maintained a dominant position in lending to businesses, the likes of CBA, ANZ Bank and Westpac have all increased their efforts to increase their share of the market.
However, Slade said NAB’s strength was in developing relationships with businesses.
“Customers value their [banking] relationships as they grow their business, and they really love having our bankers on the ground, including out in regional areas,” she said.
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