Melbourne, Australia
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) has announced it will cut 3,500 jobs and an additional 1,000 contractor roles as part of a significant restructuring under its new CEO, Nuno Matos. The decision, which represents an approximate 8% reduction in the bank’s workforce, is the first major move by Matos since he took the helm in May and is aimed at safeguarding the bank’s future growth in a highly competitive and evolving banking environment.
The cuts are intended to be completed by September 2026 and will impact a wide range of departments, with reports suggesting that the retail and technology divisions will be most affected. Matos stated that the painful decision was necessary to “eliminate duplication and complexity” and to “sharpen our focus on improving our non-financial risk management practices across the bank.” While the bank is highly profitable, the move is seen as a way to streamline operations and create a more performance-driven culture. The bank will incur a restructuring charge of $560 million before tax in the second half of its financial year.
The announcement has drawn strong criticism from the Finance Sector Union (FSU), which has called the job cuts “out of control” and “driven by pure greed.” The union argues that the bank, one of the most profitable in the world, is betraying its workers to chase even bigger profits. While the bank has stated that most customer-facing roles will be unaffected, the FSU has raised concerns about the impact on services and the workload for remaining employees. The job cuts have been met with a mix of support from financial analysts, who see the potential for increased efficiency and profitability, and concern from employee advocates.
