NAB Chief Defends Offshoring as 2,500 Job Cuts Draw Scrutiny
National Australia Bank CEO Andrew Irvine faced questions in Canberra this week over 2,500 planned job cuts, as more than 15% of the bank's workforce is based in India and Vietnam. Lawmakers pressed him on claims that Australia lacks tech talent.
National Australia Bank chief executive Andrew Irvine spent much of his appearance before a parliamentary committee in Canberra this week defending offshoring, as NAB’s talent trap became the central line of questioning. More than 15% of the bank’s staff now work in India and Vietnam, and the bank is cutting 2,500 jobs at home.
Irvine appeared before the House Standing Committee on Economics. The four big bank chiefs travel to Canberra for these hearings regularly, and they are known for tough questioning.
2,500 jobs, 6% of the workforce
NAB announced the cuts about a month ago. They amount to 6% of its workforce. Insiders described the layoffs as a “bloodbath”, and outsiders wondered whether artificial intelligence or offshoring was behind them.
The scale of NAB’s presence in India and Vietnam points to offshoring. Irvine fielded almost as many questions on the subject as the committee has members.
“The skills don’t exist here”
Ed Husic, who has been prominent at the hearings this week, framed the core concern. Banks often argue that preparing for new technology means building skills locally, he said.
“But the skills don’t exist here, they get offshored to other countries,” Husic said. “So, help me understand how it’s important to cut 2,500 jobs in Australia while it seems growth is occurring offshore?”
His question carries extra weight because of what is happening elsewhere in the sector. Atlassian, Canva and Block have all recently laid off technical staff in Australia. That raises the question of whether the local talent pool is really as thin as the banks suggest.
Why it matters
The exchange tests a common justification for sending technology work abroad: that Australia lacks enough skilled workers. Thousands of laid-off technology workers at some of the country’s best-known firms sit awkwardly with that claim.
For NAB staff, the hearing offered no new detail on which roles go or when. Husic put the issue plainly in his own words.
“We often hear banks say, if we want to prepare for technology, we need to build the skills here and get people used to it,” he said.
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