ANZ to cut up to 800 jobs by end of year

The ANZ Bank will cut up to 800 jobs before the end of the year following an announcement to staff. The announcement was made in Melbourne by ANZ chief executive Mike Smith on Friday, ABC reports.

The cuts will take place over the next few weeks.
The Finance Sector Union said the bank was using the financial crisis as a cover for
the cuts.
"The ANZ are providing no explanation as to why the job cuts have got to get
bigger," National Secretary of the Finance Sector Union (FSU) Leon Carter told ABC.
"They continue to be a very profitable organisation, they continue to enjoy the
benefits of all the stuff the federal government is putting in place.
"This is simply about using the financial crisis as cover to get people to lose
their jobs, save costs and maximise money for shareholders."
He said ANZ workers and customers would suffer the most from the move.
The cuts are likely to come from the bank's middle management while branch and call
centre jobs are expected to be safe.
In November, the FSU said as many as 3,000 jobs at ANZ could go before Christmas.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has called on Australia's banks to maintain
their employment levels in light of the ANZ bank announcement.
Speaking in Melbourne on Saturday, Mr Rudd asked all banks to do whatever they could
to maintain their employment levels.
"This is a very difficult set of economic circumstances for everybody. It's very
difficult for families as well," Mr Rudd said.
"Each individual bank's circumstances is different. We would encourage and urge the
banks to continue to provide maximum employment for the workforce. That's the right
thing to do."
Mr Rudd said the government was doing all it could to stimulate the economy but said
there was no "silver bullet solution" to the current global economic crisis.