The major bank will see around 3,500 employees depart the company as part of changes to simplify the bank.
As part of major reforms led by new CEO Nuno Matos, banking giant Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ) has unveiled changes “to better focus on priorities”, which will involve approximately 3,500 employees departing in the next 12 months, and cutting engagements with consultants and other third parties.
In a statement released this morning (Tuesday, 9 September), the bank revealed it is making changes to “simplify the bank, strengthen its focus on its priorities, and deliver for its customers”.
While details of the new plans have not yet been revealed (a strategy update is scheduled for 13 October), the major bank has confirmed it involves the departure of approximately 3,500 employees by September 2026, as well as a reduction in the number of engagements with consultants.
It is not yet clear whether job losses impact the third-party teams.
This restructure will cost approximately $560 million before tax, ANZ said.
Speaking about the announced changes, ANZ CEO Matos said that his ambition for the bank is to “be the best bank” for customers, while also ensuring it sustainably meets performance expectations over the long term”.
“We know this will be difficult news for some of our staff,” he said.
“While some of these changes have already commenced, we are committed to working through the impacts as quickly and safely as we can, with both care and respect for our teams affected.”
The bank pointed to its “comprehensive” support program for impacted staff, which it said includes individual support, career advice, and planning support services.
“We are operating in a rapidly evolving and highly competitive banking environment,” Matos added.
“As we continue our strategic review, 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 across the bank.”
The changes also include, he continued, ending or reviewing ANZ’s engagements with consultants and other third parties, which he said will affect circa 1,000 managed services contractors.
“While recognising our teams will change the way we structure the bank and deliver our priorities, what won’t change is the dedication of our customer-facing bankers who support our customers day in, day out,” Matos concluded.
The news follows a recent internal blunder at the banking giant, as reported by The Adviser sister brand HR Leader, in which automated emails were mistakenly sent too early, informing some staff that they were to hand back their laptops, before they had been told they had been made redundant.
Since taking over as CEO of ANZ from Shayne Elliott in May, Matos has been working on a new strategy to simplify the bank.
According to a recent speech, this includes investment in regional hubs and offering customers access to banking services from their local Australia Post.
It is expected that the new CEO will want to streamline the bank’s 42,000-person workforce, particularly following the merger with Suncorp.
However, one of the conditions of its merger approval from the federal Treasurer was that there would be no net job losses in Australia as a direct result of the acquisition for three years.
[Related: New ANZ CEO outlines key priorities]
