Westpac flags cuts
(11 October 2010 –Australia) Westpac Banking Corporation’s chief executive Gail Kelly has signalled the possibility that jobs will be cut after the bank completes its A$2 billion technology upgrade.
The bank, which employs around 37,000 people, has bolstered staff numbers by 1,200 while it rolls out the new system.
Mrs Kelly has said that staff numbers are likely to fall next year, however didn’t speculate on the total likely number of cuts.
The bank says it will have 25,000 working hours, the equivalent of 625 staff working 40 hours a week, of 'free capacity' at its branches within six months, but job cuts will not come from the branch network.
The bank, which spent A$500 million last financial year on the five-year upgrade program, has not forecast the extent of job cuts and Mrs Kelly said it would use natural attrition rather than forced redundancies as far as possible.
Mrs Kelly has said that staff numbers are likely to fall next year, however didn’t speculate on the total likely number of cuts.
The bank says it will have 25,000 working hours, the equivalent of 625 staff working 40 hours a week, of 'free capacity' at its branches within six months, but job cuts will not come from the branch network.
The bank, which spent A$500 million last financial year on the five-year upgrade program, has not forecast the extent of job cuts and Mrs Kelly said it would use natural attrition rather than forced redundancies as far as possible.
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