Employment in banking sector fades

Employment in the finance and insurance sector is dwindling away - or, at best, drifting offshore.

Quarterly data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the number of people employed in the finance and insurance sectors has decreased by 43,174 over the past ten years.

While a big decline might have been expected during the worst days of the financial crisis in 2009 and 2010, the numbers don't necessarily back that up.

Five years ago, in 2010, there were 415,523 people employed in finance and insurance. Employment figures reached a high point in May of 2012 when a total of 426,445 people were employed in the sector.

But over the three years to February 2015, the number of people employed has dropped by 6074 from 418,959 to 412,885.

The trend seems to be continuing in 2015. For instance, last month ANZ announced that offshoring and restructures would see 149 jobs cut from its Australian workforce.

More than 230 Westpac jobs in Western Australia and Queensland are to go with the closure of two customer contact centres in the states in March this year.

The decrease in employment in the finance and insurance sector is a global trend. In January 2015, according to a quarterly Bloomberg Global Poll, 83 per cent of respondents said the banking industry would continue cutting jobs this year.