Software firm Xero unveils bid to lure 700 new staff

Cloud accounting software firm Xero is aggressively staking its territory in the war for tech talent, with plans to hire 700 staff in coming months.

Xero chief technology officer Mark Rees, second from right, with colleagues, from left, Jugdip Bath, Pete Bonney, and Paul Meyrick.

Cloud accounting software firm Xero is aggressively staking its territory in the war for tech talent, unveiling the hiring of new senior engineers and plans to hire 700 staff in coming months.

The New Zealand-founded, ASX-listed company is looking to hire staff across its technology and product departments, with most to start in the new financial year. The software outfit continues to increase its headcount despite a share price fall of 41 per cent in six months, amid a broader tech rout.

The move comes just two months after Xero opened a new headquarters, a four-storey, 7000sq m space in Hawthorn, 6km from Melbourne’s CBD.

Xero chief technology officer Mark Rees acknowledged that the tech talent pool was shrinking as companies attempted to lure new staff.

“It’s been really competitive with lockdowns and immigration issues which (affects) a notable number of the people we hire,” he said. “Now, we’re competing with companies in New Zealand, Australia and other markets around the world.”

Asked if the majority of new hires would be locals, Mr Rees said there was no specific plan. At least 20 per cent of the company’s new staff were on remote contracts.

The company has grown 31 per cent year on year and employs 4784 staff across multiple countries, latest report says.

Inside Xero’s new Melbourne headquarters, a four-level, 7000sq m space in the heart of affluent inner-city suburb Hawthorne.

That’s in contrast to the company’s share price, which has fallen along with the majority of other ASX-listed tech stocks.

“I think most people have a pretty good understanding of the share price, especially the fact that it’s often disconnected from the fundamentals of the company,” Mr Rees said.

As for how Xero planned to attract young talent over other opportunities with global tech giants and the big four banks, Mr Rees said the company strived to give young employees a sense of purpose.

“Young engineers want a clear purpose and believe in what they do,” he said. “I find that this generation is very socially aware and want to make an impact on the world. We can really connect the work that engineers do to the impact it has and its effect on the economy.”

Mr Rees said Xero had hired several senior tech staff in recent months in a bid to provide more feedback to young engineers.

Peter Bonney, who worked at Deloitte, IAG and Appen Butler, was appointed executive general manager in charge of product engineering. He said he joined Xero for the range of problems engineers were able to solve in small businesses which have scaled.

“One of the exciting things about being in any kind of organisation that starts small and grows is that inevitably success leads to re-engineering and thinking through hard problems and coming up with new solutions to those,” he said. “I think we have a really great balance of those types of problems, but also then the new feature development that’s aligned to our customers and the needs of building out a global platform like what we’re striving to do.”