ANZ to cut 3500 jobs

Chief executive Nuno Matos says the restructure is aimed at simplifying the bank and reducing duplicate roles, describing it as “the right thing to do”.

The news comes weeks after senior staff in the retail division of ANZ learned of their forthcoming redundancy when they received an automated e-mail asking them to return their work laptops, before they had received any formal exit notice.

Alongside the job cuts, ANZ has also comitted to a reduction in consultant and third-party contracts that would affect about 1,000 contractor roles.

Front-line staff will be mostly unaffected by the cuts.

ANZ will book restructuring charges of around $560 million, before tax, with the final details of the costs to be included in its financial results in early November.

The Finance Sector Union has vowed to fight the restructure, lodging a dispute with the Fair Work Commission and seeking an “urgent” meeting with Financial Services Minister Daniel Mulino.

FSU president Wendy Streets condemned ANZ for “betraying” workers to “chase even bigger profits”.

She says that as of this morning, ANZ was unable to tell the FSU basic information about these cuts, including who these 3500 workers are. “The way staff have learned about these cuts – including through the media and the recent automated email debacle – is a disgrace and has compounded people’s shock and distress.”