Titans of tech in drive for workers

THE Australian tech industry has emerged from the COVID-19 recession to embark on a hiring spree, with some ascendant buy now, pay later firms looking to increase their headcount by more than 50 per cent.

Analysis by Citi’s Research Innovation Lab shows that hiring activity in the industry stepped up in the December half as confidence over demand outlook grew and some companies made use of newly shored-up balance sheets following capital raises. Leading the way for positions advertised as a percentage of current workforce was ZipCo, which advertised for just under 300 positions, equivalent to 59 per cent of its workforce.

Afterpay followed closely, posting 350 jobs, representing 55 per cent of its workforce.

The Citi analysts said the buy now, pay later companies’ hiring activity was consistent with their revenue outlooks.

“Zip (is) expected to grow its revenue by 88 per cent over the next two years and Afterpay by 67 per cent,” they wrote.

Forty-six of Zip’s 65 December-quarter listings were US-based. The analysts said Zip was increasing the resources of its North American brand Quadpay, which is also set to receive a funding boost.

Afterpay’s listed roles were more concentrated in Australia and the US, although hiring in the UK, China and Canada accounted for 19 per cent of the 170 roles advertised in the December quarter.

Technology and product roles continued to dominate but the analysts said there had more recently been an increase in risk, compliance and privacy-related jobs.

The tech company with the largest number of job listings was accounting software provider Xero, which is also the largest employer of the companies surveyed, with more than 3000 employees across the globe.

The company posted more than 700 listings since June, representing 22 per cent of the company’s total headcount.

The majority of positions are based in New Zealand where Xero’s headquarters are located, but just under 200 advertised in the half were based in Australia.

Nearmap and HUB24 also saw a pick-up in hiring during the December quarter. Nearmap, which recently announced a $90m capital raising to fund North American expansion, posted 49 listings in the half year, equivalent to 17 per cent of its workforce.

HUB24 looked to fill 44 roles, about 17 per cent of total staff, despite indicating it would pull back on investment earlier in the year.