00:00We don't know exactly where the jobs are going from.
00:05It looks like a lot in tech and the retail side of the bank.
00:10We do know some more from Chief Executive Nuno Matos, who's quite new in the job and
00:15was speaking at an AFR forum in Sydney and indicated that even though ANZ has said these
00:22jobs will go by September next year, he is intending that most of the job cuts will take
00:27place by early next year to put workers basically out of their uncertainty.
00:34He said at the same forum, we are not touching frontline jobs.
00:39Exactly what that means and what is defined as frontline, I guess it sounds like not branch
00:44workers but certainly ANZ is headquartered in Melbourne, so a lot of vulnerable jobs there.
00:53It also has a big Sydney office, so vulnerability there.
00:57The one area that looks protected is the Suncorp Banking Division that it took over a couple
01:04of years ago because of guarantees made to the Queensland and federal government to get
01:08that deal over the line.
01:10Is this unique to ANZ then, Michael, or can we expect to see other job losses at other
01:15major banks?
01:16We have been seeing some minor job cuts at the other big banks.
01:19CBA has done some outsourcing to tech workers in India.
01:25Also there was recent reports about jobs threatened by AI but reinstated for the time being.
01:31There's been some minor job cuts at the other banks but ANZ actually has more staff than
01:36NAB or Westpac even though it's the smallest of the big four banks.
01:41It has about 43,000 staff and so you would say the scale of these job cuts does look somewhat
01:48unique because perhaps compared to the profitability of the bank it has been relatively overstaffed
01:54compared to the other big four.
01:56What has been the reaction from the bank workers union to this?
02:00Well they say that if these job cuts are concentrated in retail and tech that would represent 14% of
02:07the workers in those divisions so a really massive blow in those areas.
02:12They say ANZ's response when they've asked well what will happen to the work being done
02:17by these employees is that this work will just stop.
02:21They've described it as corporate vandalism and a profit grab with workers finding out by
02:27news alert this morning via ANZ's media release.
02:32Nuno Matos says it's really about stopping duplication and the internal complexities
02:39within the bank.
02:40This is not about profits.
02:43This is about getting the things right, the basic things a bank needs to do right.
02:48This is about again avoiding duplication and complexity which is very important in a company
02:53that needs to simplify its operation to improve its risk management.
02:59And at the same time to stop initiatives that don't fit with our strategy.
03:04That's why we're doing this.
03:05So what have investors made of it Michael?
03:07Yeah it's the first big test for Nuno Matos who's only been chief executive for a few months
03:13and has come in from HSBC, the global investment and retail banking giant.
03:20So far today the share price is down 0.6% to around $32.75.
03:26And again CBA and Westpac shares were off more than 1%, NAB slightly less at 0.3%.
03:32So general sell off in banking, ANZ neither better or worse than its competitors.
03:37Thanks Michael.
03:38Thanks Ross.
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