Aussie lender NAB to cut 222 back-office jobs, says trade union

By Poonam Behura

(Reuters) -National Australia Bank is planning to cut 222 back-office jobs, the Finance Sector Union (FSU) said in an emailed response to Reuters.

FSU, a white-collar trade union, said NAB’s restructuring will impact its departments such as Personal Direct Lending, Technology and Operations, Corporate Finance and Client Coverage.

This will result in job cuts, with hundreds of other staff to be redeployed, FSU added.

“There is significant concern (that) further job cuts are on the horizon after NAB’s Q3 trading statement said it was targeting an additional A$400 million ($255.04 million) in cost cuts,” said Julia Angrisano, the union’s national secretary.

“The environment we operate in is constantly changing and we need to have the right skills, capabilities and structures to improve productivity and better support our customers,” an NAB spokesperson told Reuters.

“This means certain roles may no longer be required or need to be moved to support other teams.”

The news was first reported by the Australian Financial Review on Wednesday.

There have also been reports of larger peers Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTC:) and Westpac Banking (NYSE:) Corp axing several hundred jobs to reduce costs amid high interest rates and inflation.

NAB reported a 5% jump in third-quarter cash earnings in August, including a decline in its margins due to higher home lending competition and deposit costs.

($1 = 1.5684 Australian dollars)