Westpac has cut more than 500 jobs in the past fortnight across mortgage operations, relationship banking and commercial banking, a union officials say.
The job cuts are part of a cost-cutting program at the nation’s third-largest lender – which employs about 38,000 workers – as it struggles to keep expenses down amid rising inflation and higher spending on technology.
Last week, Westpac said it would axe 300 jobs, affecting mainly head office roles in areas such as change management, project delivery and program management.
On Friday, the bank told the union it would cut a further 116 roles on top of those announced last week, which would affect mainly relationship managers working in “premier banking”, as customers’ increasingly banked online.
On top of that, the bank plans to cut more workers from its mortgage operations team and from commercial relationship banking, according to the Finance Sector Union.
That was expected to affect about 40 positions, a source close to the bank said.
Westpac chief executive Peter King. Picture: Jane Dempster
The move follows Westpac’s ongoing plans to simplify the bank and reduce costs.
“This ongoing reorganisation is part of our simplification and cost reset program,” a Westpac spokesman said.
“We’ll be supporting our employees as we make these changes.”
Last month, Westpac posted a 22 per cent increase in profit to $4bn in the six months to March. At the time of the result, the Sydney-based bank said rampant inflation had forced it to scrap its $8.6bn cost target, while adding it was not deterred in its cost-cutting drive.
“Westpac is wallowing in record profits on the back of mortgage interest rate rises but that hasn’t stopped its insatiable appetite for job cuts,” the FSU said in a statement.
FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano condemned the cuts and said more Westpac bankers were expected to face lay-offs.
“Unfortunately, this isn’t the end of the carnage in lost jobs at Westpac,” Ms Angrisano said, estimating the total number of jobs lost over the past fortnight at more than 500.
“Westpac has spent the past two years savagely slicing into its national branch network and now senior executives are taking the butcher’s knife to carve through a range of back office functions.”