Australian banking group Wespac Bank has withdrawn its plans to move its transactions and unsecured lending operations offshore to India.
The decision to cancel the move follows a review of some back-office banking processes undertaken at the bank’s Concord operations center in Sydney, which concluded that the proposal to shift offshore did not meet the bank’s financial and stakeholder criteria.
However, the decision to shelve the offshoring does not rule out a move in the future.
Still, the news has pleased union for now, which is understandable given that the move would have affected 485 jobs. The Financial Sector Union (FSU) is concerned about the trend to move workers offshore to save labor costs, also known as off-shoring.
FSU’s national secretary, Paul Schroder, voiced his concern in The Age, stating, Westpac’s decision to invest in Australian jobs and protect the privacy of their customers will prove good for their business, their workers and their customers. The fact that they have listened to their staff and customers and rejected off-shoring this work clearly distinguishes Westpac from their competitors.