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SYDNEY - AUSTRALIA'S fourth biggest bank, ANZ, will cut a total of 800 jobs before Christmas because of the global financial crisis, reports said on Saturday.
Chief executive Mike Smith made the announcement to staff in Melbourne on Friday and most of the cuts will be from middle management, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said.
'The fact that they continue to roll out job losses so close to Christmas is completely unacceptable,' said Financial Services Union spokesman Leon Carter.
'This is simply about using the financial crisis as cover to get people to lose their jobs, save costs and maximise money for shareholders.'
'They continue to be a very profitable organisation,' he said.
ANZ Bank in October posted a 21 per cent fall in annual net profit, its first drop in a decade, after it was hit by growing bad debts and turmoil in global financial markets.
The bank, which was positioning itself as a major power in Asian banking, said net profit for the year ended September 30 stood at 3.32 billion dollars (S$3.27 billion) , down 21 per cent from 4.18 billion a year earlier.
Reacting to the reported job cuts, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd urged Australia's banks to maintain their employment levels.
'This is a very difficult set of economic circumstances for everybody. It's very difficult for families as well,' Mr Rudd told reporters.
'Each individual bank's circumstances is different. We would encourage and urge the banks to continue to provide maximum employment for the workforce. That's the right thing to do.'
Mr Rudd said the government was doing all it could to stimulate the economy but there was no 'silver bullet solution' to the current global economic crisis.
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