Suncorp staff unsettled about potential job cuts

Suncorp staff remain worried about the prospect of more job losses if the $4.9bn sale of its banking operations to ANZ gets the green light from competition regulators.

There are still some unhappy campers down at Suncorp with fears a “night of the long knives” restructuring will occur after the $4.9bn sale of its banking operations to ANZ gets the green light from the Australian Competition Tribunal.

According to one of our spies, the recent restructure that removed 24 roles along with a layer of management in the insurance business means some managers now have former direct reports as peers.

“This has clearly been raised internally and the advice internally off the record is that there will be another restructure at these lower levels once the tribunal judgement is handed down on the bank sale,” our spy says.

“These managers who have been emasculated are likely the first to be made redundant early in 2024. Internally, the hope is these managers will blink first and look elsewhere and resign, this in turn reduce redundancy costs to the Suncorp Group.”

Another spy tells us some managers are likely to wait for the axe to fall given they could cash in on redundancy payouts capped at 80 weeks of pay.

Suncorp CEO Steve Johnston

Meanwhile, there is speculation that chief executive Steve Johnston will depart the group once the sale of ANZ is finalised, with insurance boss Lisa Harrison his likely successor.

“Lisa Harrison is clearly the anointed internal successor to Steve Johnson,” says our spy. “Lisa is the golden child internally and we’re sure that corporate affairs already have the comms (communications) ready for the first female CEO of Suncorp ready to go.

“This final structure, slated for post bank sale approval in April/May 2024, is likely to be the final move of Steve J, the lion in the corporate jungle allowing him to dine on the succulent meat that ANZ will throw him post the bank sale.”

However others close to Suncorp and Johnston says the boss has no intention of leaving, given he only took up the top job in 2019 and will want the dust to settle on the bank sale before he even thinks of departing to fish at Straddie.

A Suncorp spokesman said “we are focused on finalising the structure announced last week and getting on with the job of supporting our customers.”

Property party

The property sector is getting ready to eat, drink and be merry. The Property Council Christmas Lunch will be returning to the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre this year after a couple of years at the Royal International Convention Centre in the Ekka Grounds.

Property Council Queensland chief executive Jen Williams tells us that 1700 people have bought tickets for the December 1 event so far making it the biggest Christmas lunch for the property sector on record. “It’s been a challenging year for the industry tackling the uncertainty of rising construction costs, interest rates and insolvencies, all while trying to solve a housing crisis,” says Williams. Guest comedian will be Dilruk Jayasinha, most recently known for his guest appearances on The Project and Have You Been Paying Attention? Funds raised will go to the work of the Property Industry Foundation. Last year more than $60,000 was raised. The official after-party in the outdoor plaza kicks off at 2:30pm.

Property Council; Jen Williams