A person at Westpac says the bank's job cuts are much bigger than first suggested and reach every division.
The person told The Aussie Corporate this week that Westpac's layoffs were "much bigger than previously suggested and across all divisions", and said there was a "Real lack of transparency and clamp down on confidentiality". Westpac's full-year results announcement on Monday gave no figure for the cuts.
What has been reported
Westpac made 102 roles in its Risk, Institutional Banking and Finance teams redundant earlier in October and cut around 140 more jobs in the week of 19 October, HCA Magazine reported on 23 October. Retail Banker International put the total at more than 250 roles since the start of October and said the bank had widened the scope of the cuts.
The Finance Sector Union said the latest cuts would reach roles across the bank, The Edge reported. The union called them "stealthy job cuts" and said it "holds grave concerns that Westpac has more in the works".
Westpac told the union of the latest round on 19 October, a day before NAB announced plans to cut up to 2,500 jobs, Reuters reported. A Westpac spokesperson told Reuters the changes were "not related to AI but rather a broader organisational restructure that's been underway for some time". "As customer habits change, and the skills and capabilities required in banking continue to evolve, so will our workforce," the spokesperson said.
What people at the bank told us
People at Westpac have written to us since September. In September one person told us of "massive culls at Westpac" under the "Catalyst" banner. On 27 October another person said a shake-up under Catalyst had been announced, with "A mix of senior leaders and team members" affected and roles ending at the end of November, and that "not much info is being shared".
What the full-year result shows
Westpac reported net profit excluding notable items of $7.0 billion for the year to 30 September, broadly unchanged on last year. The bank had 34,682 full-time equivalent staff at 30 September, down 2 per cent from 35,236 a year earlier. It said "Productivity initiatives contributed to a reduction in average FTE of 3%". The count was taken before the October cuts.
Restructuring costs were $72 million for the year, down from $267 million, with $40 million of that in the second half. The results say Catalyst, which Westpac calls "our new way of working designed to improve how we deliver change and transformation", launched on 1 October. Chief Executive Anthony Miller said the bank was investing in its people and technology "while taking a disciplined approach to costs".
The tip that started this story is on our Inside Track. If something in this story is wrong, tell us through our corrections form.
