By Chris Zappone
ANZ Bank will dump 500 back-office staff in Australia and shift the jobs to India by the end of the year.
An ANZ spokeswoman this morning confirmed that most of the jobs about to be scrapped were in Melbourne.
Jobs at ANZ are on the move to India
"In 2008, the size of the operation in Bangalore grew by around 500 people and it is reasonable to expect there will be some further growth in 2009," said an ANZ spokeswoman in a statement.
Go to BusinessDay's Jobs in Jeopardy index for the latest news on job cuts.
However, call centres will remain in Australia and New Zealand, the bank said.
The announcement has prompted the ire of the Finance Sector Union. National secretary Leon Carter called on the Rudd Government to set conditions on the support it provides to Australian in the form of government guarantees.
The confirmation follows reports in the The Age last year that the bank had been advised by consultants to cut 620 jobs between January and September 2009, with 870 jobs identified for "offshore migration." At the time, the bank refused to quantify any local cuts.
The move will allow ANZ to focus more on its Asian business and confirmed the latest round of cuts in Australia would boost the 3000-strong workforce it already has in Bangalore.
Centralising the processing centre in Indian is part of the ANZ's plan to grow into a super-regional bank in Asia, as outlined by chief executive Mike Smith.
Late last year, the bank moved 500 back-office jobs to India as part of the transition. The jobs are separate from the 800 retrenchments ANZ announced in December affecting local employees.
Austock banking analyst John Buonaccorsi said ANZ's Mr Smith was "more aggressive" and "less sentimental" about moving back office jobs than his predecessors, as the bank moved to centralise its processing centre ahead of regional growth.
Mr Buonaccorsi said that typically, when a bank moved jobs to India, more positions were created overseas in the process because of the lower productivity of workers relative to their Australian counterparts.
Rod Masson, policy director at the Finance Sector Union, described the cuts "scurrilous".
"It shows contempt for the Australian community and in a more targeted sense for Australian workers and finance workers."
He called on the Government to address the issue of off-shoring by banks.
The Federal Government needs "to lay some conditions on the continued taxpayer support that’s being used to underwrite the risks to these businesses," he said.
Major banks often tried to hide the extent of processing happening outside Australia, he said, with local employees instructed not to reveal to customers what duties are being performed overseas.
"Fundamentally the banks are actually embarrassed they have to do this," he said.
"They’re quite happy to take the cost savings. But they’re embarrassed and understand there will be a public backlash should it be revealed."
ANZ shares added 63 cents, or 4.9%, to close at $13.49.