PwC more than doubles jobs creation target in Adelaide
Having filled almost 300 positions in just nine months, PwC’s Skilled Service Hub in Adelaide has stated on its official launch that it now intends to create 2,000 local jobs over the next five years.
Big Four professional services firm PwC has formally launched its Skilled Service Hub in Adelaide – with the promise of more than six times the number of new jobs than initially slated.
First announced in April of last year with the aim of creating 300 high-skilled jobs over eighteen months, the firm now says that the delivery centre, which has almost reached that count in half the time, will add 2,000 positions within the next five years.
In celebrating the launch, PwC noted that over one third of the hub’s new staff members had relocated from interstate, with PwC’s Adelaide managing partner Jamie Briggs further revealing that the 2,000-job figure is double that of the firm’s original expectations – adjusted due to the size of the uptake so far within PwC.
Should it reach its target, the Adelaide hub will be host to nearly a quarter of the firm’s total Australian headcount.
“As part of PwC’s digital transformation strategy, we are making a significant investment in growth to meet the rising demand for skills in cyber, cloud and assurance services,” Briggs said, describing Adelaide as the new destination for innovation. “It’s the city Australians want to work in, whether they live in or out of state, and is opening new and different prospects for resourcing and helping to build Australia’s workforce of the future.”
Expanding further, PwC’s Skilled Service Hub managing partner Gabriel Harris said there were three main reasons for establishing the delivery centre, the first being talent and investing now in skills for the future. Harris also cited data sovereignty and the need for knowing where the firm’s data and that of its clients is being kept, along with the unprecedented pace of change in high tech areas and so ensuring the firm can continue to move at scale.
On hand for the opening alongside PwC CEO Tom Seymour, South Australian Premier Steven Marshall stated that the delivery centre’s expansion further strengthens the state’s position as a hub for innovation and world leader in the high tech sector, pointing to a raft of other companies which have recently set up specialist shops in Adelaide, including Google, AWS, Nokia and consultancies Accenture, Cognizant and Deloitte.
PwC will also be competing for talent with another newly-announced tenant; the Commonwealth Bank, which plans to establish a tech hub in Lot Fourteen’s $400 million Entrepreneur and Innovation Centre development. Citing the potential for collaboration, Brendan Hopper, the bank’s Chief Information Officer for Technology, said the hub would employ 150 software engineers, data scientists and cybersecurity specialists within five years.
“Companies have either expanded or relocated to South Australia because they can see the value of being located near to each other where they can collaborate and partner,” said SA Trade and Investment minister Stephen Patterson. “With our global reputation in artificial intelligence, data analytics, machine learning and high tech capabilities, companies are recognising the value of doing business in the world’s third most liveable city.”
