Suncorp Group has denied claims by the Finance Sector Union (FSU) that it is preparing to send Australian insurance jobs offshore in search of higher profits.
A spokesperson from Suncorp said that the FSU’s claims were overweight on rhetoric and underweight on facts following an FSU release stating that Suncorp had confirmed that it is considering offshoring back office and processing jobs.
A Suncorp spokesperson said the company is currently looking at a number of strategies to improve its operations including, but not limited to, using external companies to provide services where they have more expertise than we do.
"We have not made any decisions about cutting jobs," the spokesperson said.
"We are actively recruiting for over 100 customer-facing insurance roles at the moment – not surprisingly, the FSU doesn’t say much about that."
According to FSU acting national secretary Chris Gambian, recruiting 100 insurance consultants is no assurance against the company then cutting jobs and moving those jobs overseas or to third party providers.
Gambian said Suncorp insurance employees are facing a nervous wait to hear if they will still have a job with the company.
"Suncorp employees put in long hours to process the high volumes of claims quickly, carefully and compassionately during natural disasters," Gambian said.
"It is disappointing that Suncorp puts boosting their bottom line before the needs of the people who made them profitable in the first place."
FSU stated that the exact number of jobs to be sent offshore is still to be confirmed, but thousands of Australian jobs may be at risk.
"Companies that do their business in Australia and profit from the Australian community owe the Australian people an investment in excellent services, jobs and skills" Gambian said.
