The major plans to cut roles in bank telling and retail banking, while appointing around 200 staff across home and small business lending.
Westpac has laid out plans to remove around 200 roles in telling and personal banking, while recruiting for its home and small business lending by the same number.
A letter seen by The Adviser and sent yesterday (23 September) to Westpac’s retail network by Damien MacRae, general manager for retail banking, outlined the planned changes.
“Over the coming year, we will appoint around 200 more lenders and bankers to achieve our home lending and small business ambitions. At the same time, we will need around 200 fewer tellers and personal bankers’ roles in retail banking,” MacRae said.
MacRae said Westpac had already started upskilling staff, and that in the past year, 33 employees had moved from branches to become home finance managers. The major said it expects this number to grow.
The big four lender also said it plans to roll out a “digital first” approach to all branches in the financial year 2026.
To support this, Westpac will invest $200 million over the next three years in ATMs and branches, while improving its app and investing $5 million in staff training during FY26.
In reply to questions from The Adviser, a Westpac spokesperson said: “Westpac is a major Australian employer, with more than 30-thousand people across the country. In the last year we hired almost 5,000 people in Australia.
“We adjust the composition of our workforce according to our investment priorities. While we continue to invest in extra bankers, other areas may need fewer resources.
“This means from time to time we make changes that may impact some roles and responsibilities as we actively manage costs and investment. As the skills and capabilities required in banking continue to evolve, so will our workforce.
“We try to keep as many employees in the Westpac Group as we can, through retraining and redeployment. For those who leave, we help them with tailored support and assistance with career transition.”
Westpac was quick to stress that there was “no net change in job numbers”.
In spite of that, the plans were slammed by the Finance Sector Union (FSU), which warned it would “strip away vital face-to-face services”.
“Workers are being told to migrate customers to a digital strategy, forcing them to eliminate their own jobs,” the union said.
FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano commented: “Westpac is asking loyal tellers to migrate customers to digital services that ultimately eliminate their own jobs. It’s callous and short-sighted.
“Communities still rely on face-to-face banking and workers should not be sacrificed for cost-cutting dressed up as innovation.
“Our expectation is clear: no worker should lose their job. We will hold Westpac to account every step of the way.”
Cost-cutting drive at majors
A major cost-cutting push is already underway at Westpac, with the lender having already announced plans to cut 1,500 roles as part of CEO Anthony Miller’s efficiency drive.
Other majors are also making lay-offs.
Banking giant Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ) plans to lay off around 3,500 employees and 1,000 contractors over the next year.
Similarly, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) had announced plans to axe at least 45 customer service jobs and replace them with artificial intelligence. However, this was backtracked following significant backlash.
National Australia Bank (NAB) is cutting more than 400 jobs in its technology and enterprise operations and moving some positions overseas.
In answer to a question about bank lay-offs on Wednesday morning during ABC RN Breakfast with Sally Sara, Australian Banking Association (ABA) CEO Simon Birmingham said: “We do see huge changes in the banking market.
“Brokers now account for around 70 per cent of all home loan transactions that occur, around 30 per cent of all small business transactions, and while banks have grown their head count by an estimated 20 per cent in the last five years, the competition driven by that increased use of brokers and the like, really is driving a tightening in net interest margins in banks, and these are pressures that individually different banks will have to look at.
“In some cases, it’s a redirection of roles, but again, not all, but that redirection is often into areas like technology, where there’s increasing, of course, need to invest. But as I say, elsewhere, it’s a recognition that the sector is ever more competitive and facing new cost pressures.”
[Related: ANZ announces major job cuts as part of new strategy]
