Last week, ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott publicly declared falling migration could be solved by getting older Australians back into the workforce.

Pointing out that some older potential workers do not use social media tools such as LinkedIn, the big-four bank boss said anyone interested in a role with ANZ should simply email him directly.

“Older people are not necessarily familiar with those tools. So, they are a little bit harder to find, to be perfectly honest,” Mr Elliott said.

“There’s always the most efficient way: to come straight to me. So, my email address is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. I’m pretty easy to find online and actually already today I’ve had quite a few people send me their CVs and we’re grateful for that.”

The call for older Aussies to come back to work follows recent ABS data which showed there are now 57 per cent more job vacancies than prior to the pandemic.

Further data revealed that not only does Australia have positions to fill, half a million Aussies over 45 are currently on JobSeeker. Moreover, Australian Border Force statistics have hinted that thousands of Australian citizens are looking to set up permanent residency overseas.

The CEO’s latest comments follow a speech he made while visiting Australia’s biggest backpacking region, Mildura, where he revealed the big four has been in conversations with various elements of government and state in particular “exactly around this issue”.

The pace of technology changes has also meant some people may have left the workforce early, Mr Elliott opined, with ANZ said to be looking at ways to lure them back.

“For a bank like ANZ to commit to retrain people, we’ve also got a really interesting program around technology,” the banking boss said.

“What we found in the data is a lot of people, particularly women, who were older and who had worked in tech in the past for whatever reason had moved out of the workforce and then somehow felt they weren’t worthy or capable of coming back.”