More jobs including IT are going to India it seems from Australia and UK see story below….
NAB tipped to cut 2,000 to 3,000 jobs!!
Australia’s biggest bank will unveil details of the job cuts next Wednesday when it announces what’s expected to be a $2.5 billion half-yearly net profit.
National Australia Bank will probably announce that about 2,000 staff will be cut in Australia, the union representing financial sector workers says.
NAB is expected to announce a drop in half year earnings on Wednesday and says it will also give details of its restructuring.
Unions are concerned that other banks might follow the NAB’s lead, shifting some positions to countries such as India, where wage costs are lower.
The NAB plans to cut jobs in mail handling and cheque processing by giving the work to other companies.
Some jobs will be lost as the bank combines businesses such as retail banking and wealth management.
Paul Schroder from the Finance Sector Union more than 2,000 could go.
“The discussions that we’ve had with the bank to date indicate to us that they are looking at a really substantial overhaul of the bank,” he said.
“Usually that’s code in banking parlance for major job losses.”
The NAB is already cutting about 1,700 jobs in the UK as part of a restructure to attack a slump in earnings.
The bank’s share of the lending market has declined and last year it lost $360 million in unauthorised currency trading.
Mr Schroder says the union is worried Australia’s biggest banks see big savings in shifting behind the scenes jobs to countries where wage costs are lower.
“It’s a major risk to our whole industry. We say that these iconic Australian companies have an obligation to invest in Australian skills and in Australian jobs,” he said.
“Of course the bank needs to look at its systems and processes to make sure that they’re efficient but what we would say is that the bank is under-staffed in customer services and a range of areas.”
JP Morgan Australia’s banking analyst Brian Johnson says the NAB has given few clues of the size of the half-year profit it is due to announce on Wednesday.
“The only guidance we have is that earnings will drop in this half which means that they’ll be really, really bad and it’s not only to do with the foreign currency loss,” he said.
“A lot of this is to do with the fact that previous management of NAB appear to have been basically running down the quality of the balance sheet to inflate near-term earnings. The price for that is being paid in this result.”
A spokesman for the NAB says the bank will discuss the restructure on Wednesday.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200505/s1362232.htm
http://smh.com.au/news/Business/NAB-to-announce-up-to-3000-job-cutss/2005/05/06/1115092671225.html?oneclick=true