Westpac abandons offshoring jobs to Philippines

George Lekakis
The Finance Sector Union last night was claiming victory in its campaign to thwart moves by Westpac to offshore 16 customer and staff support roles to the Philippines.

An FSU spokesperson confirmed to Banking Day that the bank had abandoned plans to export the jobs to a service centre in Manila.

"The bank has told us today (Wednesday 27 November) they're not going ahead with the idea," the FSU spokesperson said.

At least 16 Australian staff have been spared being made redundant following the bank's decision.

The staff provide technical advice to customers, mobile lenders and tellers about features of complex loan and financial services products.

Westpac recently conducted trials in the Philippines with a view to migrating the work functions in the next 24 months.

The FSU spokesman said it had received feedback from branch staff that the quality of advice from support workers involved in the pilot had been inferior to the Australian-based service.

Banking Day has sought comment from Westpac.