By Scott Murdoch
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia's ANZ Group apologised to staff and offered psychological counselling after some bankers earmarked for job cuts were notified they would be fired in an automated email that was sent by mistake.
Some staff in the bank's retail division were emailed on Wednesday, informing them of their finishing date ahead of being officially told, according to an ANZ executive.
The affected staff were given instructions on handing back their company laptops, local media reported
on Thursday.
An ANZ spokesperson confirmed the automated email had been sent in error. The bank regretted the mistake and said staff should be treated with respect "particularly when implementing changes to our organisational structure", the spokesperson said.
ANZ did not comment on how many staff were being made redundant or the number of people who had received the email ahead of formal conversations with management.
ANZ, Australia's fourth largest bank by market capitalisation, is in the middle of a strategic review ordered by new chief executive Nuno Matos, who was appointed in May.
The bank's acting head of retail banking, Bruce Rush, emailed senior staff on Wednesday and said the message about redundancies had been mistakenly sent out ahead of schedule.
A call was held later on Wednesday where psychological support and counselling was offered, an ANZ spokesperson confirmed.
"Unfortunately, these emails indicate an exit date for some of our colleagues before we've been able to share their outcome with them," said the email sent by Rush and seen by Reuters. "It was not our intention to share such sensitive news with you in this way, and I apologise unconditionally."
Rush said the redundancy meetings were accelerated and were due to be finalised Thursday.
As of Thursday, ANZ had not spoken with the Finance Sector Union (FSU), which represents bank workers in Australia, about the blunder, according to the union's president, Wendy Streets.
This is a disgusting way for workers to learn about job cuts through a botched email instead of a respectful conversation," she said.
"These errors are the direct result of the chaotic pace of change being forced through by ANZ's new CEO."
ANZ declined to comment on the FSU assertion that the changes being made by Matos were chaotic.
(Reporting by Scott MurdochEditing by Frances Kerry)
