ANZ jobs shake up 'not about cost cutting'

David Hisco. Photo / Richard Robinson

ANZ says a rejig of its regional management structure is aimed at getting the bank ready for a pick-up in the economy and is not about cost-cutting.

New Zealand's biggest bank yesterday said about 45 jobs would go as part of the change which it hopes will allow it to focus more on its rural, retail and small-business customers.

"It's not about costs - this is not a cost exercise. This is about getting ourselves organised properly and ready for the game when the economy picks up again," ANZ chief executive David Hisco said.

Hisco said the change would affect about 15 regional management roles as well as 30 back-office support jobs but the number of people was small compared with the 9000 ANZ employed in New Zealand.

He said the change had been driven by feedback from staff and customers. "Our customers ... want quicker decisions based on local knowledge and insight. We need to simplify our management structure so our customer-facing staff can deliver that."

Hisco said responsibility for decision-making in each of its retail, business banking, commercial, agri-business and private banking divisions would shift to four regions covering the ANZ and National Bank.

The four regions were Auckland, Northern, Central and Southern.

Hisco said the bank wanted to ensure its front-line staff had more local support with less bureaucracy to get in their way.

Hisco said the economy remained flat at the moment but the bank hoped loan growth would pick up in the second half of the year.