Suncorp’s redundancies ‘short-sighted’: FSU

Suncorp’s decision to cut 550 jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic is a “short-sighted” decision, the Finance Sector Union (FSU) believes.

The FSU said it was consulting with its members about the restructure which followed the bank closing 19 branches earlier this week.

The bank also recently reported a statutory net profit of $913 million.

FSU Queensland local executive secretary, Wendy Streets, said: “Suncorp is a large financial services company and should have the capacity to maintain its business operations through the global pandemic and the subsequent recession caused by COVID-19.

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“However, instead of valuing the staff it currently employs and planning for playing its part in rebuilding the Australian economy once the pandemic subsides, Suncorp has taken a short-sighted decision to make up to 550 roles redundant.”

Suncorp said it would create 180 new roles but Street said it did not guarantee that any displaced employees would be redeployed into the new roles.

“This is the worst time to be unemployed and we know how difficult it will be for some of these Suncorp workers to find new jobs,” she said.

“It is difficult to see how the loss of so many loyal employees and a process in which others will be forced to re-apply for their jobs, will not affect front line services to customers.

“Suncorp is a profitable finance company and in these difficult times, with so many Australians out of work, if we can’t rely on companies like Suncorp to do the right thing by their employees, who can we rely on?”