New Zealand looks set to benefit from a massive round of job cuts planned by two major corporations across the Tasman.
ANZ spokesman Stephen Ries confirmed to the Australian Associated Press that the bank was considering laying off almost 600 Melbourne-based call centre staff and shifting the work to New Zealand and the Philippines.
Global information technology giant IBM is reportedly looking to axe as many as 1400 Australian staff in a restructuring that would see many positions relocated to New Zealand and Asia.
Ries told AAP that ANZ needed to operate more efficiently in Australia's "lower growth environment".
"No decision has been made [on the job cuts], nor will there be a decision in the near future," he said.
The Australian said IBM planned to cut 10 per cent of its Aussie workforce in response to disappointing first quarter financial results.
The company is estimated to employ between 12,000 and 14,000 staff in Australia.
About 450 Australian IBM workers were expected to be made redundant by the end of this month, The Australian reported.
BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander wasn't surprised by the news.
"One of the comments I've been making for two to three years is that we will start to see jobs moving out of Australia into New Zealand because of the high degree of unionisation in Australia's work force and the high [labour] costs ... New Zealanders are more cost-effective," Alexander said. "I expect we will see more of this over time."
But he didn't think the shift - sometimes referred to as "near-shoring" - suggested this country was becoming a kind of Mexico or Bangladesh of the South Pacific.
"I don't think it's saying anything about New Zealand - it's a reminder that countries like the Philippines, for instance, are moving up the economic scale and the education of people is sufficient that they can communicate with people in developed economies," Alexander said.
Last year Woolworths Australia moved a contact centre to Auckland, citing lower costs among the benefits, following similar expansion plans for cigarette manufacturing, food processing and media work to New Zealand.
Australian wages are about 30 per cent higher than those in this country.
Meanwhile, food manufacturer Heinz is planning to lay off around 45 staff at an infant formula factory it operates in northern England and shift production to New Zealand, where local dairy co-op Fonterra will be contracted to carry out the work.
- By Christopher Adams of the New Zealand Herald
