Bendigo Bank cuts could hit Adelaide workers hardest

Adelaide staffers will reportedly be most affected by the ongoing Bendigo Bank restructure, accounting for over half of the staff cuts.

Editor’s note: This story first appeared on HR Leader’s sister brand, Banking Daily.

The Australian Services Union (ASU) has said 137 workers at Bendigo and Adelaide Bank are set to be made redundant as part of the restructure, which will see 299 job changes across the bank’s consumer lending and customer care sectors.

The cuts are part of the group’s 2030 strategy and chief executive Richard Fennell’s goal of reducing operational costs by up to $75 million annually by 2028.

“The bank has told us that, as a partnership with an offshore technological company, it’s making efficiencies through these redundancies,” said ASU South Australia and the Northern Territory branch secretary, Ella Waters.

“We’re yet to see what that means for whether or not these workers are going to be completely replaced by AI, but we’re extremely concerned that, in the name of technological advancement, hundreds of jobs are being cut.”

Despite ASU’s comments, Bendigo Bank said its restructuring plans were not yet confirmed and refused to say whether AI would play a role in filling the terminated jobs.

A spokesperson for Bendigo Bank speaking with ABC referred the publication to a statement from April announcing partnerships with Infosys and Genpact, which said that the bank was reviewing its “business operations and processes.”

Additionally, the spokesperson said the workforce changes are a result of process improvements.

“The process and operational improvements expected to be delivered will lead to workforce changes that will impact our people,” the spokesperson said.

“The bank is committed to supporting all employees through this period of change, including exploring opportunities for redeployment for those whose roles will no longer be required, where possible.”

Back in August, the Finance Sector Union (FSU) heavily criticised Bendigo Bank’s cuts, pointing out that the bank’s strategy came after major profits for the organisation.

“Bendigo Bank’s $530 million profit was only made possible by CEO Richard Fennell treating his staff and customers with complete disdain,” said FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano.

“The remaining workforce won’t be celebrating with an axe hanging over their head”

“Bendigo Bank management needs to work on the massive trust deficit it has accumulated with workers and the communities they serve.

“Agreeing to the FSU’s 10 job security demands would be a good place to start. Our demands are reasonable and doable.”

An anonymous Bendigo Bank worker, going by the name Luke, described the bank as lacking communication and “chaos”.

“Everything’s been ripped up, and no one seems to know how anything works anymore,” he said.

“We went from having a very good (in-house) help desk to having to use the Infosys help desk.

“It’s got real issues; calls are dropping out, important messages are not being communicated, and problems aren’t being fixed.

“I think the bank should use a little bit of that profit to fix these issues, but I suspect most of it will be used to keep the institutional investors happy.”

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