UPDATE: Bank Of Queensland To Lay Off Around 10% Of Staff
March 05 2009 - 7:04PM
Dow Jones News
Australian regional lender Bank of Queensland Ltd. (BOQ.AU) is
likely to cut around 150 jobs, or 10% of staff, by the end of March
as it looks to boost efficiencies in the face of deteriorating
global market conditions, a spokeswoman for the bank said
Friday.
The job cuts, which are already underway, and are likely across
the group's corporate and head office and are part of the group's
Project Pathways restructuring program, the spokeswoman said.
Brisbane-based Bank of Queensland joins other major banks and
financial services groups such as Australia and New Zealand Banking
Corp. (ANZ) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) Australian affiliate
Goldman Sachs JBWere in pruning staff numbers. Goldman Sachs JBWere
is likely to cut up to 60 jobs, or 5% of its workforce, in the
coming 12 months, a person familiar with the situation said
Wednesday.
National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB), which employs around 40,000
staff worldwide, is working on plans to cut hundreds of jobs in
Australia, including in its nabCapital arm, the Herald Sun
newspaper reported Friday, citing unnamed company insiders. A NAB
spokesman wasn't immediately available to comment on the
report.
While avoiding the worst seen by some lenders in Europe and the
U.S., Australia's big banks are seeing a sharp jump in bad loans,
which is wiping out profit growth across the sector.
Bank of Queensland aims to complete the staff reductions program
by March 27, the lender's spokeswoman said, adding some staff are
likely to be redeployed to other areas of the group's business.
Bank of Queensland's owner managed branch network won't be
impacted by the decision, and customer-facing roles will also be
spared from the cuts, she said.
The Brisbane-based bank will provide an update on its
restructuring program at its half-year result next month.
-By Lyndal McFarland, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9650-0637;
lyndal.mcfarland@dowjones.com
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