Westpac reportedly prepares to cut 1500 jobs in massive redundancy round

West Australian

21-05-2025

Banking giant Westpac is reportedly preparing to cut an estimated 1500 jobs.
The massive redundancy push, first reported in the AFR on Tuesday evening, would cull about five per cent of the bank's 35,969 employees.
A Westpac spokeswoman declined to confirm the 1500 figure but said the bank would adjust the composition of its workforce according to its investment priorities.
'While we continue to invest in extra bankers and customer-facing roles, other programs and initiatives may need fewer resources,' the spokesman told NewsWire.
'This means from time to time we make changes that may impact some roles and responsibilities as we actively manage costs and investment. As the skills and capabilities required in banking continue to evolve, so will our workforce.'
The spokesman also said the bank would try to keep as many employees as it could and would look for 'retraining and deployment' opportunities.
New Westpac CEO Anthony Miller is moving to simplify the bank's operations and embed more technology into its services, which he flagged in a recent presentation to investors this month.
In a slide on 'cost reset benefits', the ASX-listed bank said it wanted to achieve a 'simpler operating model', a 'reduced branch footprint' and ramp up 'digitisation' as part of its larger 'Unite' strategy.
The bank is also investing heavily in artificial intelligence and told investors it had established four reusable AI solution patterns, delivered eight AI solutions and was 'constructing' a further 14 AI solutions.
Westpac paid out about $3bn to its employees over the half-year, the presentation revealed.
The redundancies come despite the behemoth posting healthy profits and revenues for the first half of the 2025 financial year.
The bank reported $3.3bn in profits for the six-month period, a 1 per cent dip of its performance in 2024, while revenues were flat at $10.95bn.
The latest round of redundancies also follows a slow drip of cuts and branch downsizing from the big four banks in recent years.
In February last year, Westpac announced the closure of about 20 branches across Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
In 2023, Westpac, NAB, Commonwealth Bank and ANZ all announced substantial cuts with the total number of job losses from the giants hitting more than 2000.
The Finance Sector Union has been contacted for comment.