anz sending 500 jobs to india

Govt under pressure over 'shameless' ANZ job cuts

Posted 1 hour 32 minutes ago


The Finance Sector Union says the Federal Government should be doing more to stop banks sending jobs overseas.

The ANZ Bank has confirmed it is moving about 500 IT and administrative positions from Melbourne to Bangalore in India, following another 500 jobs which were relocated to the Indian IT hub last year.

The union's Leon Carter says the Government should order banks to protect local jobs as a condition of the guarantees the Government has given them.

"We all hope that companies like ANZ would do the right thing, because it's the right thing to do," he said.

"What this has shown is that not only do they not have any shame, but left to their own devices all they care about is their bottom line.

"[The Government should] stop talking about jobs being their number one priority, and do something - and what they can do in the finance industry is very simple - they can make it a condition of the support that they are providing to banks that they send not one single job overseas."

But the head of the Bankers' Association, David Bell, says Australian banks are yet to receive a cent of taxpayer support.

"It must be remembered - and the FSU gets this consistently wrong - in return for the government guarantee, a fee is paid," he said.

"And banks so far have paid half a billion dollars of fees to the Government, and hence the taxpayer."


http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/13/2515923.htm