Westpac to cut 200 teller roles as customers shift to digital channels – report

Core Insights - Westpac plans to cut 200 teller jobs and redeploy resources into home and business lending roles due to increased customer usage of digital banking services [1][3] - The bank will invest A$200 million (approximately $132 million) over the next three years to upgrade ATMs and branch facilities, while also hiring 200 staff for lending roles [2] - The Finance Sector Union has expressed concerns that these cuts will reduce essential in-person services and criticized the move as forcing staff to make their own roles redundant [3] Company Strategy - Westpac is focusing on a digital-first strategy to meet changing customer needs, as highlighted by the bank's general manager [2] - The bank aims to align its workforce composition with its investment priorities, indicating a shift towards digital services [3][4] - Westpac is attempting to retain as many employees as possible through retraining and redeployment, despite the need for fewer resources in certain areas [4] Industry Context - The announcement of job cuts at Westpac comes amid similar restructuring efforts in the industry, with ANZ planning to cut 3,500 full-time roles and NAB announcing 410 redundancies [4]