ANZ bankers learned they were axed in email error

Bankers at Australia’s fourth-largest bank learned their jobs were being cut by an automated email sent by accident, several outlets have reported.

Roughly 300 employees within the bank’s retail division received an email last week instructing them how to hand over company-owned laptops, despite not having been notified that they were being terminated.

The mistake prompted ANZ to formally apologize to staff and to offer psychological counseling to those affected.

“A few weeks ago, I announced changes to our leadership structure in Australia Retail,” Bruce Rush, acting group executive for ANZ’s Australia retail unit, wrote to employees in an email reposted by a Reddit user and attributed to Rush by the Daily Mail. “Earlier today, automated emails were sent to some Group 2 and 3 individuals ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, these emails indicate an exit date for some of our colleagues before we’ve been able to share their outcome with them.”

“It was not our intention to share such sensitive news with you in this way, and I apologise unconditionally,” he wrote, adding that he “deeply regret[s] the distress” the situation may have caused and that the bank is “committed to treating every colleague with dignity and respect as we move through this process.”

The email was sent in error, an ANZ spokesperson confirmed to Reuters. Staff should be treated respectfully “when implementing changes to our organisational structure,” the spokesperson said.

A call addressing the email was conducted last week, when the bank offered psychological support and counseling, the spokesperson told Reuters. Meetings pertaining to the job cuts were then accelerated and due to be finalized the next day, according to Bloomberg.

The snafu comes after CEO Nuno Matos joined the bank from HSBC in May. Matos is expected to release a strategic plan in October that will reshape ANZ’s executive reporting structure and reduce layers of management, according to Forbes.