Australia’s ANZ Bank announced early Tuesday that 3,500 jobs would be made redundant over the next 12 months. In addition, 1,000 contractors will also be impacted as the leading bank aims to let go of their services. The Wall Street Journal reported that the CEO of ANZ, Nuno Matos, sent an email circular to staff at 3 AM with the headline “focusing on our priorities,” and dived into letting staff go. The email to staff reads that the bank plans to save $369 million in the restructuring plan.
ANZ Bank has a workforce of 42,000, and 8% of its staff will be affected in the restructuring plan. “Our ambition is to put our house in order,” said Nuno Matos, at a conference in Sydney on Tuesday morning. “Today we are impacting 3,500 of our employees and their families,” he said. “I hate to do this, but it is for the future of the company.”
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The job cuts reverse the hiring spree that took place from 2020, after the impact of the Coronavirus. The firm had added 10% of new workforce since the lockdown, reaching 42,370 full-time employees. “We are eliminating duplication and complexity, stopping work that doesn’t support our priorities, and sharpening our focus on improving our non-financial risk-management practices,” said ANZ Bank’s CEO, who joined in May, after Shane Elliot stepped down after serving nine years with the bank.
ANZ Bank Throws the Axe at Staff & Contractors
While the email addressed all employees, the axe now hangs over everyone’s neck. Nobody knows who will be impacted and what decision the management will take to reduce the workforce. “We are doing this to create a bright future as we think about this triangle of the company, shareholders, and employees,” said ANZ Bank’s CEO.
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However, South Australia’s Finance Sector Union has called ANZ Bank’s decision to lay off employees “greedy.” They cited that Nuno Matos is firing people despite the company making sizeable profits. “It’s purely about greed,” said Jason Hall, the Branch Secretary of the Union, to Sonya, Jules & Rory McClaren, during a podcast with ABC News.