20-02-2025
Westpac slammed for offshoring 190 Aussie jobs: ‘Dangerous'
Westpac has announced it will be offshoring 190 Australian jobs to the Philippines, with South Australian and New South Wales workers mostly impacted. The move has sparked concerns over the security of customer data, with the union warning it could have 'dangerous implications' for customers.
The Finance Sector Union said about 190 roles from the major bank's mortgage operations, institutional banking and customer solutions would be offshored. The union said the move came just three months after Westpac's CEO said the bank was 'in very good shape', recording a $7 billion profit in the last financial year.
A Westpac spokesperson told Yahoo Finance the changes were in head office and operational functions and 'represent around half a per cent of our workforce'.
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'Westpac is a major Australian employer, with over 30-thousand people across the country,' the spokesperson said.
'From time to time, we change the way we operate and this can impact some roles and responsibilities.
'When this happens, we work closely with employees to provide tailored support and assistance with career transition.
'We try to keep as many employees in the Westpac Group as we can, through retraining and redeployment.'Finance Sector Union national secretary Julia Angrisano has condemned the move.
'These are skilled bank workers managing complex commercial relationships and sensitive information,' she said.
'Our members who work at Westpac have told us about their concerns not just for their own jobs, but for customers and the security of their data.'
Westpac workers, who did not want to be identified, told the FSU they were concerned about the implications of their roles being offshored.
'Given the sensitivity and risk associated with the kinds of accounts we manage, it's clear that Westpac hasn't considered the risk this poses to customers, shareholders and staff,' one worker said.
Another worker noted the 'complexity and compliance risks associated with the complex accounts' they worked with.
Angrisano said Westpac planned to outsource management and ethical review activity to Concentrix, which is an existing partner.
'We've seen what can happen when important work goes offshore, something as important as ethics being offshored can create dangerous implications and have flow on effects,' she said.
It comes a year after Westpac cut 132 jobs from its risk-management, operations and sales divisions, with some positions shifting offshore to India and the in to access your portfolio
