Big four banks 'may cut more jobs'
Bank of Queensland boss Stuart Grimshaw reckons more job cuts are likely. Picture: The Courier-Mail Source: The Courier-Mail
AUSTRALIA'S big four banks may look to shed more jobs to counter losses in revenue, Bank of Queensland chief executive Stuart Grimshaw says.
On Thursday, Westpac briefed workers about 410 job cuts and positions it will relocate to India as part of a group-wide restructure.
Earlier last week Suncorp Group said it would shift 77 jobs offshore to Bangalore, while ANZ Banking Group in January announced 131 employees in Victoria would lose their jobs.
Bank of Queensland CEO Stuart Grimshaw said the major banks may consider cutting costs further if their revenue lines slowed.
"I think we're seeing as regular headlines now ... across the whole economy, head-counts reducing," Mr Grimshaw told the ABC's Inside Business program today.
"I think if you look back over the last 12 months, there's been a lot of reduction in head-count that's gone quietly through without being reported in the press."
He said there were better ways of lifting earnings than shedding jobs.
"I don't think cutting costs is quite the answer.
"Cutting costs is actually a brutal way of putting more work on fewer people and that doesn't work for anyone - in fact, that's actually worse for an organisation.
"We don't believe taking a blunt axe to heads is the right way about it."
Finance Sector Union figures released in January showed National Australia Bank, ANZ Banking Group, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank collectively made 3,309 roles redundant in 2011.
The union said it expected the trend to continue in 2012.