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The Finance Sector Union (FSU) has urged Bendigo Bank to prioritise reskilling workers over redundancies as the bank continues to cull its Australian operations.  

Workers have been told that some functions performed in the Customer Enablement Business and Agribusiness Lending Operations department will now be run by global tech giant Genpact. The FSU understands up to 80 workers could lose their jobs as a result.  

The union is also concerned that some functions of the Financial Crime Risk area have been outsourced to Genpact although the bank claims that the area will receive a net increase of 33 workers as a result. 

The union believes that this presents an opportunity for Bendigo Bank to reskill employees affected by the restructure.  

For workers who choose to, Bendigo should provide upskilling and development to transfer them into these Financial Crime roles instead of facing the prospect of having no job.   

Bendigo Bank has not been shy about its ambition to shrink its Australian workforce.  

Bendigo announced a partnership with Genpact and Infosys in April that saw some staff forced to work for Infosys on inferior contracts and left up to 1000 other employees uncertain about whether their jobs will be outsourced too. 

The FSU met with affected staff on Wednesday (24 June) to hear their concerns and provide advice.  

Finance Sector Union National Secretary Julia Angrisano said:  

“Every time an Australian job is lost there is an economic and social impact that affects us all,” Ms Angrisano said. 

“Banks don’t offshore or outsource to improve efficiency; they do it for profit.  

“What is left is a hollowed-out and demoralised Australian workforce and less local oversight of important operations.  

“I am calling on Bendigo Bank to do the right thing and ensure that its remaining Australian workers are reskilled and redeployed to other areas of the bank.  

“The bank also needs to hit pause on its agreement with Infosys and Genpact and look at new ways of streamlining the business that don’t involve outsourcing labour.”  

Media contact Sam Burgess 0434 165 630 or [email protected]