Afterpay, Zip, lead tech industry hiring spree
Australia’s tech sector is on a hiring spree, with thriving buy now, pay later firms Afterpay and Zip out to swell staff by over 50pc.
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 investment bank Citi 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 the current workforce was fast growing buy now pay, later play ZipCo, which advertised for just under 300 positions during the December half, equivalent to 59 per cent of its total workforce.
Afterpay followed closely, posting 350 jobs, representing 55 per cent of its total 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 46 Zip’s 65 December quarter listings were US-based, the analysts said the company was increasing the resources of its North American brand Quadpay, which is also set to receive a funding injection following the company’s recent $120m capital raising.
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 positions advertised in the half were based in Australia.
The second half hiring spree came as Xero’s share priced increased by more than 50 per cent in the six months to December and the company built up a $1bn cash reserve after issuing $700m in convertible notes.
Xero’s Chief Product Officer Anna Curzon told The Australian that the company would continue to hire talent in Australia and New Zealand over the coming years.
“At Xero’s half year results in November 2020, we announced a record level of product development in the half compared to the same period the previous year,” she said.
“With that we’re undergoing a large talent acquisition drive in product and technology with hundreds of new roles for engineers, designers, architects, product managers and more underway.
“To support this growth, we have opened a new, larger office in Canberra to accommodate an expanded development team. This is in addition to our core Australia product and tech hub in Melbourne.”
Nearmap and HUB24 also saw a pick-up in hiring during the December quarter. Nearmap, which recently announced a $90m capital raise to fund North American expansion, posted 49 listings in the half-year, equivalent to 17 per cent of their 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.
Altium and WiseTech had the lowest number of job listings as a percentage of headcount, at just four and one per cent respectively.
The analysts said that Altium listed no jobs in July and August following “tough macro conditions” in the first half of the year that saw a three per cent revenue decline, but 10 jobs were listed in the December quarter.
WiseTech listed just 27 jobs in the second half of 2020 – a quarter of which are based in India – despite recording revenue growth of 23 per cent in June, which the analysts said is likely due to a focus on cutting costs while integrating recent acquisitions.
“The slowdown in overall hiring levels and the increase in India is consistent with company guidance provided at the financial year 2020 result – WiseTech is expected to focus on integrating its acquisitions in the short term and is also building a global network operations centre in Bangalore,” the analysts said.
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