Jobs bonanza as NAB seeks 1000 customer service officers to ask distressed home borrowers how they are coping with COVID-19
- National Australia Bank is now hiring 1,000 new customer service employees
- NAB's new recruits will be tasked with calling up distressed home borrrowers
- COVID-19 crisis has seen 80,000 borrowers defer their mortgage repayments
- NAB customer chief Rachel Slade said new recruits would check on borrowers
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
National Australia Bank is hiring 1,000 new employees to work in coronavirus customer service.
The recruitment drive is occurring as 80,000 home borrowers defer their loan repayments for up to six months because of the COVID-19 crisis.
NAB's chief customer experience officer, Rachel Slade, said the new recruits would be tasked with calling as many distressed borrowers as possible.
'The past few months have been incredibly difficult for so many Australians and this is an opportunity for us to speak to customers who have requested a payment pause and check how they are doing,' she said.
National Australia Bank is hiring 1,000 new employees to work in customer service. Pictured is NAB's Melbourne headquarters in Melbourne
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NAB's new recruits will also be trained to talk through a customer's home loan situation, explaining the consequences of deferring monthly mortgage repayments and how they can resume repaying their loan.
'We know many of our customers will continue to feel the impact of COVID-19 for a long time and our expanded team will mean we can be available to support them through this,' Ms Slade said.
Like the other major banks, NAB is worried about the effect forced sales from distressed borrowers would have on real estate values.
Earlier this month, NAB predicted capital city property prices would fall by 10 to 15 per cent during the next 12 to 18 months, as unemployment hit levels unseen since the 1930s Great Depression.
Sydney's median unit price was expected to plummet by 8.8 per cent in 2020 followed by another four per cent next year.
That would see mid-point prices for an apartment dive by 12.8 per cent, or $99,576, to $678,364, going by CoreLogic data.
Melbourne was expected to take even more of a hit, with its median apartment prices tipped to plummet this year by 10 per cent, and by four per next year.
NAB's new recruits (stock image) will be tasked with talking through a customer's home loan situation, explaining the consequences of deferring monthly mortgage repayments and how they can resume repaying their loan (Sydney homes at Maroubra in the city's south-east, left)
A 14 per cent dive by 2021 would see a typical apartment lose $82,349, compared with April 2020 median prices, to hit $505,855.
Brisbane unit prices were tipped to dive by 5.5 per cent in 2020 and by another 8.6 per cent next year.
A 14.1 per cent plunge by 2021 would see median apartment prices fall to just $333,918.
Adelaide was also in for a beating, with NAB expecting a 2.7 per cent drop in 2020 followed by a seven per cent fall in 2021.
A 9.7 per cent fall by next year would see median unit prices fall to $301,819.
In another ominous sign, NAB is expecting Australia's jobless rate to hit 11.7 per cent by the end of June - a level unseen since the 1930s Great Depression.
Australia's employment rate climbed to a five-year high of 6.2 per cent in April, up from 5.2 per cent in March.
Almost 600,000 jobs were lost, with 104,500 of them becoming officially unemployed as 489,800 left the labour market in despair.
Working hours also plunged by 9.2 per cent in April with the underemployment rate rising by 4.9 percentage points to a record high of 13.7 per cent.
Earlier this month, NAB predicted capital city property prices would fall by 10 to 15 per cent during the next 12 to 18 months, as unemployment hit levels unseen since the 1930s Great Depression
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