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Bank of Queensland plans to cut up to 400 jobs and acquire more than 100 subsidiaries as part of a restructuring that chief executive Patrick Allaway says is aimed at simplifying the business.
The regional bank said its retail banking model was no longer sustainable and it would convert all 114 owner-owned branch networks to its corporate structure by March, which would cost between $115 million and $125 million over four years.
Bank of Queensland boss Patrick Allaway has stepped up job cuts at the regional lender,credit: Dan Peled
“We have long recognised the need to address legacy complexities and structural challenges to transform the way we do business,” Allaway said in a statement to the ASX on Thursday morning.
“With the initiatives we announced today, we are taking a significant step forward in delivering simpler and more customizable bills of quantities.”
Allaway said the bank will eliminate up to 400 full-time jobs at a one-time cost of $35 million, which will save the bank $50 million over the next two years.
The latest cuts come on top of 250 jobs lost over the past year, a move the union has criticised as “death by a thousand cuts”.
'Workers walk around feeling like they have a target on their backs, waiting for the axe to fall.'
National Secretary of the Financial Sector Union Julia Angrisano
Julia Angrisano, national secretary of the Financial Sector Union, said workers were paying the price for the bank's mismanagement after it was forced to set aside $50 million last year as part of an enforceable pledge it made to regulators.
“Workers are walking around feeling like they have a target on them, waiting for the axe to fall. Workers are very anxious about their future and deserve certainty as they make their own plans for themselves and their families,” Angrisano said.
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