Suncorp staff brace for job losses amid ANZ ‘collateral damage’

Suncorp staff are up in arms over ANZ’s stalled $4.9bn takeover of the group’s banking operations, saying they are collateral ‘damage’ as they brace for job losses.

Suncorp staff say they have become “collateral damage” in ANZ’s stalled $4.9bn takeover of the group’s banking operations and are bracing for job losses in the lead up to Christmas.

In an email sent to Suncorp Group chief executive Steve Johnston on the weekend, a group of staff members working on the insurance side of the business claim they have been working in “limbo” since the ANZ deal was rejected by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission earlier this year and a structural reorganisation was unveiled.

“We have been left rudderless and isolated by you and your direct reports,” said the email . “We, as your valued staff, feel maligned and disposable to the interests of you and the board in prioritising the sale of the bank, no matter the cost. Why are you and your team treating staff with such disregard as it has now been over 60 days since any update on structure, staff employment and livelihood have been impacted?”

The email said that generally speaking, any announcement of staff redundancies involved a six-week notice period for those impacted.

“With the upcoming summer shutdown period in mid-December, you are putting an added mental health toll to every single one of your staff,” the email said.

The email is signed a “group of employees (ranging from executive managers, managers, leaders and front line staff) in your insurance division under Lisa Harrison and Michael Miller” but does not indicate the number of workers involved.

The email accused Mr Johnston of being “singularly focused on offloading the bank and doing that to the detriment of staff morale” “This will be reflected in poorer outcomes to customers, be it in claims management, banking queries and insurance sales,” the email said. “The employees of this organisation feel marginalised.”

Suncorp CEO Steve Johnston.

Australia’s competition tribunal on Friday gave the green light for the Queensland government to intervene in a legal challenge to the ACCC’s rejection decision.

“The Queensland government lodging an application to the tribunal around public interest benefit for the bank sale has probably paused any restructure changes as it may not be a good look to cut staff when you have made promises to the government about keeping jobs in Queensland,” the email said.

“We hope you succeed in your strategic ambitions for the group, but you, and your direct reports, are succeeding in alienating staff across the business due to a lack of communication, lack of transparency and a lack of empathy due to the limbo we are all facing in our day-to-day decision-making.”

In a separate email to Suncorp commercial and personal injury insurance chief executive Michael Miller, the staff complained about the lack of communication about a coming restructure of the business. “We understand that we need to be lean as a business, keeping our costs down and achieving our market commitments, especially with the potential cash injection of the bank sale in limbo,” they said. “This may also mean some of us may have our positions being made redundant which, while difficult to accept, will be easier if communicated early, clearly and with empathy.”

Mr Miller responded that he “has clearly missed the mark on a number of occasions, which is not easy to hear, but I think your feedback is valid. I have forwarded your note to my team, so we can all take on the feedback, hope this was OK with you?”

Mr Miller said some of the “misses” have come from “being disorganised rather than intent as you say, but nevertheless I need to up my game … Please keep the feedback flowing, it does help to run the company better.”

Commenting on the concerns raised in the email and a recent restructuring of the insurance portfolios, a Suncorp spokesperson said “the senior leaders of our insurance functions were appointed in September and will continue to update their teams on any changes necessary following the establishment of the Consumer and Commercial & Personal Injury insurance portfolios.”

Suncorp’s monthly employee survey shows engagement across the group has remained consistent and in the top 25 per cent of the finance industry, with employee satisfaction in the top 10 per cent, the spokesperson said.

Mr Johnston, Mr Miller and Ms Harrison were contacted for comment.