The Commonwealth Bank has warned of serious staff shortages as Australia’s economy re-opens. 

Commonwealth Bank’s head of business banking, Mike Vacy-Lyle, says that as NSW and Victoria prepare to re-open in the weeks and months ahead, he believes there will be strong pent-up demand for hospitality and retail.

However, employers may find it hard to fill vacancies created by ongoing lockdowns.

“A lot of people that traditionally would have worked in the hospitality sector, which has been a very buoyant sector for so long, have started working in other sectors like agriculture, and moved into regional Australia from metro,” Mr Vacy-Lyle says.

“On the back of immigration being slowed, and people entering Australia being slowed, we’re going to see that there’s going to be a struggle to get people back into hospitality.”

More positively, he said he doubts there will be a sharp increase in business failures as government support for businesses is reduced. He said many firms have adjusted to shutdowns.

“I think we’re going to see a good rebound,” Mr Vacy-Lyle says.