(5 March 2008 – Australia) Australian banking sector jobs have increased by more than 10,000 over the past two years.Throughout 2006 and 2007 employment growth by Australian Bankers’ Association (ABA) member banks exceeded Australia’s overall employment growth.
In 2007 ABA member banks experienced employment growth of 4.9 percent, compared with 2.9 percent for the overall economy.
David Bell, chief executive officer of the ABA, said that the key reason for the increase in employment levels has been to support branch expansion, coupled with broad-ranging increases in customer service staff levels.
There has been a net increase in branch numbers of more than 300 over the past two years. A significant part of this growth has occurred in regional Australia, with an estimated 20 percent of the net increase in branch numbers occurring in remote and regional Australia.
It is estimated that at the end of 2007, 45,200 jobs were located in the overseas operations of Australian banks, representing a four percent increase on the previous year.