Union Claims Westpac Will Cut Tech Jobs, Send it Offshore

The Financial Services Union (FSU) claimed on Tuesday that Westpac Bank will axe 119 technology jobs and send them overseas as the lender cuts cost. The union said the bulk of the jobs to be lost would come from the Sydney Central Business District and Kogarah units and smaller numbers from Queensland, South Australia and Victoria.

The cuts are the latest in Westpac and the banking sectors as the lenders seek ways to protect their profits by reducing manpower and raising mortgage interest rates despite the decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia in February to retain the current 4.25 per cent overnight cash rate.

Outside the banking sector, Rio Tinto indicated on Monday that it may cut 600 jobs at its aluminium smelter plant in Tasmania in the next two years due to weak prices and the high Australian currency. Large companies in the construction and manufacturing industries have also shuttered or announced layoffs which are expected to worsen the country's unemployment rate.

FSU National Secretary Leon Carter criticised the decision to axe Westpac jobs and send it overseas.

"The only reason they are losing their jobs is because our most profitable bank thinks it can now get the job done more cheaply offshore," he said in a statement.

"Australian bank customers are sick of banks sending jobs offshore, and Australian bank workers are sick of being sacrificed on the altar of profit," Mr Carter said.

Westpac registered full-year profits of $6.9 billion and has the highest standard variable rate at 7.46 per cent among the big four.

Besides the 119 tech jobs, FSU said Westpac reportedly will also shed seven jobs in the bank's collections unit. Westpac announced the reduction of 400 jobs in February and plans to offshore 150 of these jobs as part of the company's restructuring.

Mr Carter some of the bank employees who would be laid off have been with the company for years.

ANZ Bank in February said it would cut 1,000 jobs in 2012, while a report in January said 7,000 jobs will be slashed in the banking sector as lenders downsize operations due to the high cost of funding sourced overseas.