560 more Australians lose jobs
(3 February 2012 – Australia) Westpac announced on Thursday it is cutting 560 jobs, in the latest round of cuts to hit the financial services sector this year.
Sydney is set to face the brunt of the redundancies.
"We’re conducting consultations to a number of our employees around changes to Westpac," a spokeswoman for the bank told BusinessDay.
Westpac began consulting with staff about their employment, and the Finance Sector Union (FSU) said it had been informed of the bank’s plans.
FSU national secretary Leon Carter said that of the 560 jobs to be cut, about 150 lending operations jobs will be off-shored.
The remaining 400 jobs were to be chopped from primarily backroom processing and general support roles over the next two to four months.
Carter criticised the decision by the bank and implored the government to step in and support the industry.
'From our point of view, it's completely pathetic that an organisation that continues to make a multi-billion dollar annual profit thinks the only way through difficult times is to sacrifice Australian jobs on the altar of making more money,' he said.
Carter said the government should support the local finance industry with as much backing as it gives the manufacturing sector.
Unlike manufacturing, financial firms had the capacity to keep these jobs in the country because the finance sector was continuing to grow, he said.
"We’re conducting consultations to a number of our employees around changes to Westpac," a spokeswoman for the bank told BusinessDay.
Westpac began consulting with staff about their employment, and the Finance Sector Union (FSU) said it had been informed of the bank’s plans.
FSU national secretary Leon Carter said that of the 560 jobs to be cut, about 150 lending operations jobs will be off-shored.
The remaining 400 jobs were to be chopped from primarily backroom processing and general support roles over the next two to four months.
Carter criticised the decision by the bank and implored the government to step in and support the industry.
'From our point of view, it's completely pathetic that an organisation that continues to make a multi-billion dollar annual profit thinks the only way through difficult times is to sacrifice Australian jobs on the altar of making more money,' he said.
Carter said the government should support the local finance industry with as much backing as it gives the manufacturing sector.
Unlike manufacturing, financial firms had the capacity to keep these jobs in the country because the finance sector was continuing to grow, he said.
Subscribe