REDUNDANCIES – AUSTRALIA

Bankwest branch closures hit 200 workers as customers shift online

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Original article by Alice Uribe, David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 19-Jul-18

Bankwest MD Rowan Munchenberg says consumers’ growing preference for mobile banking has prompted the Commonwealth Bank subsidiary to close 29 bank branches in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. The move will result in the loss of 200 jobs, and the Finance Sector Union’s national secretary Julia Angrisano says Bankwest should have engaged in more consultation with staff. She has identified digital disruption as the biggest issue facing the financial services industry.

CORPORATES
BANKWEST, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, FINANCE SECTOR UNION, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Fears of big job losses from inquiry fallout

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 20 : 15-May-18

Automation has already put around 50,000 financial services jobs at risk, and job losses in the sector may increase in the wake of the banking royal commission. Sally Auld of JPMorgan says the loss of jobs as a result of the inquiry could be greater than those shed during the last financial crisis. Tommy Wu of IBISWorld notes that the banking sector’s revenue has fallen by over $A10 billion in the last five years, and it could fall even further as a result of the royal commission.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, IBISWORLD PTY LTD, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, RICE WARNER ACTUARIES PTY LTD, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

ABS to slash 150 staff by middle of next year

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Original article by Doug Dingwall
The Canberra Times – Page: 9 : 19-Jan-18

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will respond to budget cuts by further reducing its workforce over the next several years. The ABS employs about 2,800 people in total, and it intends to shed 150 jobs by mid-2019. The ABS previously cut 100 jobs in 2017 and 120 in 2016. However, the ABS has advised a Senate committee that the latest job cuts will be focused on office-based employees, and its 400-strong team of field workers who undertake interviews with householders will not be affected.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Big banks to slash 20,000 jobs

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Original article by James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 3-Jan-18

Australia’s big four banks reduced their full-time employee numbers by just under 1,500 in 2017. However, banking analysts suggest that Westpac, the National Australia Bank, the ANZ Bank, and the Commonwealth Bank will be a lot more active in 2018 in terms of job shedding, with an overall reduction of 20,000 full-time employees seen as likely. Victor German from Macquarie says he had thought the big four might have been a bit more active in 2017 in terms of job cuts, while he urged them not to rely on natural attrition to get employee numbers down.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COLONIAL FIRST STATE GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT, COMMINSURE

Seven production head Brad Lyons takes redundancy

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: Online : 1-Dec-17

Seven’s director of production Brad Lyons will leave the television station at the end of 2017, after he opted to take a voluntary redundancy. Lyons joined Seven in 1997, with "Dancing with the Stars", "My Kitchen Rules", and "The Amazing Race Australia" just some of the programs he has been involved with. CEO Tim Worner noted that Lyons was held in high regard by both Australian and overseas production firms, and that he had made an "outstanding contribution" to Seven.

CORPORATES
SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED

NAB wields axe despite $6.6bn profit

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Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 19 & 23 : 3-Nov-17

National Australia Bank has posted a 2016-17 cash profit of $A6.64bn, which is 2.5 per cent higher than previously. The earnings of its business banking division rose by 6.3 per cent to $A2.8bn in the year to September 2017, while its consumer banking and wealth division reported earnings growth of 4.3 per cent to $A1.6bn. NAB has revealed plans to slash costs by $A1bn by 2020. This will include the loss of 6,000 jobs, which equates to about 18 per cent of its workforce, although NAB also intends to recruit 2,000 people with digital and technology skills as part of its focus on automation.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, CLYDESDALE BANK PLC, NIPPON LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Oh what a sinking feeling … a half-century on, Toyota pulls out

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Original article by Philip King
The Australian – Page: 7 : 3-Oct-17

Toyota’s Altona manufacturing plant in Melbourne will close on 3 October 2017, with the loss of 2,500 jobs. John Conomos, the former head of Toyota Australia, says the Japanese car-maker would have maintained a local manufacturing presence if Holden or Ford had also decided to remain in Australia. He adds that Toyota had been planning to build a third model in Australia, most likely a sports utility vehicle, when its rivals announced plans to end local production. Holden’s assembly plant in Adelaide will close on 20 October.

CORPORATES
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION AUSTRALIA LIMITED, GM HOLDEN LIMITED, FORD MOTOR COMPANY AUSTRALIA LIMITED

ANZ restructure raises union fears of significant job losses

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman, James Frost
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 1-Aug-17

ANZ Bank CEO Shayne Elliott will emphasis on 1 August 2017 via a video to all staff that its Australasian focus is on retail customers and on corporate customers in Asia. The video will follow on from a message sent by Elliott on the previous day in which he called for changes to ANZ’s work practices and flexibility. Julia Angrisano of the Finance Sector Union says it is concerned that what appears to be a major reorganisation by ANZ will lead to job cuts at the bank.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, FINANCE SECTOR UNION, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, ST GEORGE BANK LIMITED, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Telstra denies ‘ambush’ over massive job cuts

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Original article by Supratim Adhikari
The Australian – Page: 21 : 16-Jun-17

Telstra is to make 1,400 workers redundant, with the majority of the job losses understood to be occurring in New South Wales and Victoria. Telstra has refuted union claims that there was insufficient consultation about its actions, while Melissa Donnelly from the Community & Public Sector Union says that country areas could be especially impacted by the redundancies. She says it is hard to imagine that the job losses will not result in a drop in the quality of Telstra’s customer service.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, NBN CO LIMITED

Journalist cuts ‘will help drive Fairfax profits’

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Original article by Scott Murdoch
The Australian – Page: 4 : 5-May-17

Fairfax Media CEO Greg Hywood says back-office functions rather the editorial department have borne the brunt of its cost-cutting over the last five years. Hywood also says the latest round of redundancies will be the last, and he argues that Fairfax’s newspapers must be both profitable and sustainable in the long-term. Fairfax journalists hope that shareholders and advertisers will support their seven-day strike in response to the latest downsizing, which will result in the loss of 125 newsroom jobs.

CORPORATES
FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION