(Bloomberg) — Westpac Banking Corp. is planning to cut more than 1,500 jobs in the bank’s biggest redundancy in a decade as it strives to meet ambitious cost reduction targets, the Australian Financial Review reported, citing unidentified people.
The overhaul involves transforming the business by simplifying its processes and technology under a plan known as Unite. It comes after the appointment in December of Chief Executive Officer Anthony Miller, who has already made significant changes to the executive team, including poaching Nathan Goonan from rival National Australia Bank Ltd. as chief financial officer.
Miller has asked managers to consider how they will reduce the number of employees by 5% across most teams within the next few months, the report said, citing two people not authorized to discuss the briefings publicly. The report said a final number of staff exits had not been decided.
“While we continue to invest in extra bankers and customer-facing roles, other programs and initiatives may need fewer resources,” a spokesperson for the Sydney-based bank said. “This means from time to time we make changes that may impact some roles and responsibilities as we actively manage costs and investment.”
Based on Westpac’s last publicly available full-time head count, a 5% reduction in the number of employees would mean 1,700 staff will leave. That is on top of around 900 full-time roles cut in the last financial year, the report said.
Westpac shares have fallen more than 5.8% since the bank reported results earlier this month. The bank has been pushing into lower margin business-lending which has impacted earnings, the report said.
–With assistance from Adam Haigh.
(Adds comments from Westpac spokesperson in fourth paragraph)
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