Head office BNZ staff face chop
Bank of New Zealand head office and management employees may be out of a job as the bank goes through a major restructure.
Spokeswoman Katherine Cornish said the bank had now finished its consultation period with some of the staff whose roles may be affected by the bank’s planned changes.
Yesterday, some of those whose roles are being disestablished or changed were told that the proposals they had earlier been consulted on had been confirmed, or of any changes that had been made as a result of feedback.
Sources said that as many as 600 people were affected by the changes but BNZ’s director of people and communication, Annie Brown, said it could be fewer than 100.
‘‘Regrettably the changes proposed do impact our people, and our priority is to look after them first and give them the time and privacy to review proposed changes and provide feedback,’’ she said.
‘‘I can’t confirm exact detail; what I can say is that the proposed changes may impact fewer than 100 staff, largely from our head offices,’’ she said.
‘‘Changes of this nature are never entered into lightly, and for BNZ this is about ensuring we have the right resources in the right place to deliver our business strategy. For any people who are impacted, we always work with them to see if there are other roles they can be deployed into.’’
Cornish said BNZ was looking at whether some of those affected could be redeployed to other roles.
Massey University banking expert David Tripe said it was possible that BNZ had had a decree from its Australian owner, National Australia Bank, that it needed to cut costs.
But he said it was doubtful that such a large reduction would be due to any change in the operating environment, or a reduction in lending.
‘‘Maybe they think they have not been operating as efficiently as possible.’’
He said the numbers being talked about were substantial. ‘‘It does seem quite remarkable.’’
His colleague, Claire Matthews, said: ‘‘While the numbers seem large, it depends on exactly what they mean in practice. It’s possible, for example, that some full-time positions will be disestablished but new part-time positions created to provide greater flexibility for the bank’s operations, in which case the impact is not not quite as dramatic as the headline numbers suggest.’’
Economist Shamubeel Eaqub said it was probably part of a wider review that was under way in the banking sector.
A number of banks have closed retail branches, particularly in smaller centres.
‘‘Banks are starting to look at their head counts and becoming more careful about things such as lending on property development.’’
He said it was part of a credit cycle, which was moving from a period where banks had been confident and lending widely, to a period of more caution. Banks were struggling to raise deposits and their Australian parents were under pressure to shore up capital buffers.
BNZ has 4500 full-time staff and 760 part-time staff. About 25 per cent of BNZ’s staff were union members.