$20 billion profit not enough – Aussie banks recommence offshoring programme

Apparently even $20 billion annual profit is not enough, with Australian banks looking to cut costs by moving jobs offshore.  Westpac is sending 100 jobs to India, and ANZ has 150 jobs in its sights, likely to be sent to the Philippines.

Delegates from Finsec’s sister union the FSU met this week and adopted an urgent motion condemning the offshoring and calling on the banks to commit to Australian jobs. National Secretary Leon Carter said “The facts are clear; the more money employees make for our big banks the more harshly they’re treated by their employer. Whether it’s ramped up sales targets or the threat of losing their jobs to cheaper labour overseas, bank executives are consumed with bottom line results with little regard for workers or bank customers.”

Kiwi bank workers need to keep a close eye on these developments. As well as supporting our colleagues over the Tasman, we don’t want to see bad employment practices copied here.

Offshoring not the answer

Westpac Australia CEO Gail Kelly has said that the bank will again look at offshoring Australian jobs, because unemployment is low, skills are at a premium and that it will “improve service”.

Finance Sector Union Secretary Leon Carter says that these reasons hid the real truth, which is “all about cutting costs to increase already massive profits at the expense of Australian workers and customers.”

“The people who actually do the work in the banks, serving customers, know the truth.  They know that offshoring functions and jobs actually makes customer service worse. They are the ones that have to deal with the endless delays and errors that come back from outsourced, offshore processing areas.”

Rice allowance for offshoring yourself

Call centre workers facing redundancy in the UK have been offered an alternative – they can offshore themselves, by moving to the new outsourced location in the Philippines. To “sweeten” the deal, the Orange customer service staff have been offered a $600 a month wage, plus a rice allowance. The firm which cut 120 jobs in Darlington, Co. Durham, said the unrealistic offer was due to a human resources error and they were not expecting people to move to Manila!

ANZ offshoring in Australia – and New Zealand?

News reports this week that ANZ is sending 300 more jobs to Manila will pour petrol on the fire of community anger over the behaviours of the big banks, said the Australian Finance Sector Union.

Finsec is currently confirming what the impact will be on New Zealand jobs, but understands that a small number of Kiwi jobs may be offshored as a result of this decision.

Finsec Campaigns Director Andrew Campbell said that the bank’s customers, staff and the wider community would meet any offshoring of NZ jobs with anger. “In the last two years, ANZ National has refused to make commitments on keeping local jobs as part of collective bargaining. We hope they have not forgotten how damaging their offshoring to Bangalore was to the bank.”

The FSU said it was unfathomable that the Australian finance sector was bleeding jobs when the sector was so profitable, with net profit this year of A$4.5 billion.

Finsec’s sister union calls on politicians to protect Aussie jobs

The Australian Finance Sector Union has called on all political parties on the other side of the ditch to guarantee to workers that their jobs are not at risk of offshoring, in the lead up to the Australian general election, which will be held at the end of the month.

FSU General Secretary Leon Carter said that “finance sector workers and the community have said loud and clear that offshoring is unacceptable. When banks send jobs overseas they are putting profits over people and local communities.”

“This election all candidates and political parties have a chance to put their hand up for Australian workers and a strong finance sector through supporting our Better Banking charter.”

Finsec and the FSU have been working together on the common issues on both sides of the Tasman this year as part of our Better Banks campaign. Go to http://www.better-banking.org to see the latest.

Is BNZ secret deal costing Kiwi jobs

The BNZ has been in the news this week with stories over a secret accommodation with the Reserve Bank to allow core information technology systems to stay in Australia.

Finsec has said that the deal could undermine the policy on bank outsourcing that requires the four big New Zealand banks to be able to function independently of their Australian parent companies, and for approval to be given before outsourcing core processing functions.

Finsec Union Council Chair Callum Francis says that to not move the work here would be a wasted opportunity to create jobs in New Zealand. “The NZ economy would definitely benefit from these BNZ jobs coming to New Zealand. Also, most New Zealanders would prefer to have their information be held locally rather than overseas.”

Thousands of Bank of Scotland jobs to go

The Royal Bank of Scotland announced that it was slashing 2,600 jobs this week – part of a total of 22,600 jobs that have been cut since it was bailed out by taxpayers in October 2008.

Between 300 and 500 jobs of the insurance jobs in the UK are to be offshored, a move that was condemned by trade union Unite and by politicians.

Rob MacGregor, Unite’s national officer for finance, said “This is a devastating blow for a dedicated workforce which has worked very hard to turn around the fortunes of RBS following some disastrous decisions by previous management.”

The Shawshank Offshoring

Offshoring of bank work took a ridiculous new turn this week when it was revealed that bank processing work for the Royal Bank of Scotland and Goldman Sachs will undertaken by inmates at Charalapally Central Jail, imprisoned for crimes ranging from petty theft to rape. The move is raising major questions about security.
The prisoners will earn 5000 rupees or around $120 per month, about a third of starting salaries at other data centres in the Hyderabad region. Radiant Info Systems spokesperson CN Gopinath Reddy said once they become experienced in the work, prisoners will have a whole new world of opportunity waiting for them after their release.

ANZ’s new Manila Hub may cost Kiwi jobs

New Zealand bank jobs could be at risk again following ANZ’s announcement this week that it will open a new processing centre in Manila, expecting 300 employees to be based there by the end of 2010. ANZ have indicated that some of these jobs may be cut from its Australian and New Zealand operations.
“Our concern is that ANZ are looking at increasing their already excessive profit margin by seeking to employ cheaper labour at the expense of Australian and Kiwi jobs,” said Finsec Campaigns Director Tali Williams. “This is outrageous coming from a corporation that made $253 million in the December 2009 quarter alone.”
The bank issued a statement saying that Finsec was scaremongering over jobs, but Williams said that the bank could reassure staff about their job security by committing publicly to retaining jobs in New Zealand. “They have told our sister union in Australia, the FSU, that up to 100 Australian and NZ jobs will be lost to the hub. We are seeking firm commitments from the bank that jobs will not be lost as a result of this move.”
Check out media coverage on this issue at the links below:
http://tvnz.co.nz/business-news/anz-says-manila-hub-won-t-impact-jobs-3451965
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2010/04/08/1247fdaea9fd

Bank admits offshoring a failure

Finsec’s sister union lthe Finance Sector Union of Australia (FSU)  said last week that a Westpac subsidiary bringing back jobs from India to Australia is clear evidence that offshoring doesn’t work. Bank of South Australia, wholly-owned by Westpac, is returning eight credit card positions from India to Adelaide.

“The FSU congratulates Westpac for recognizing that off-shoring is a failed strategy, and that customers expect their bank to employ Australians in Australia,” said National Secretary Leon Carter. “Eight jobs is a start. But the banks’ employees and customers expect all off-shored jobs to come home.”

Carter said the move would delight customers. A recent poll conducted for Senator Nick Xenophon and the FSU showed that ninety one per cent of those polled would prefer to bank with an institution that keeps jobs and data in Australia.