Staff have been left “very upset” about plans to cut about 15 jobs from ANZ’s Dunedin contact centre. 

A spokesman for ANZ said on Friday they were “considering changes to a small number of roles in Dunedin”, but would not say how many. 

“We are proposing to bring our contact centre work together into our established hubs in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington.

“We are consulting with a small number of staff on the proposed changes and exploring all available options, including redeployment opportunities where possible.”

First Union co-organiser Angus Wilson said they had been consulting Dunedin staff about the situation, and understood the changes could affect 15 jobs of a Dunedin customer service base of about 40.

“It’s extremely sad and it’s extremely disappointing to see that ANZ are going ahead with this plan, that they are going to withdraw more services from the rural south.

“The membership are very, very disheartened and very upset.”

Mr Wilson was worried about the loss of institutional memory.

“A lot of our membership aren’t in a position to be able to uproot their lives and move to Christchurch, Wellington or Auckland.

“So the bank is standing to lose quite a significant amount of institutional knowledge as well as local experience that I think customers really appreciate.”

Mr Wilson said he did not understand the moves.

“This contact centre is not a loss-leader. There’s no cost involved in keeping it going.

“It’s an upheaval of people’s lives for essentially no reason other than to consolidate contact centres … So there’s no reason why this contact centre couldn’t continue. It has simply been a decision from the bank to close it.”

Taieri MP Ingrid Leary, who had also been informed of the planned changes, said this was another blow for the city. 

“Only two affected staff have been offered redeployment in Dunedin.

“For the others, relocating is not a realistic option when their families, homes and lives are here.”

Ms Leary said this announcement followed the loss of more than 60 jobs from the Gregg’s and Ravensdown sites, with further cuts looming elsewhere.

“Filled jobs across Dunedin fell over the past year, yet the government still has no credible plan to support employment and economic development in our city.

“Youth unemployment across NZ is at a 30-year high and we continue to lose young workers to Australia who would otherwise be building the NZ of the future.”

Mr Wilson said the union would fight to retain the jobs, but it would need the combined might of the customers to succeed.

“I would encourage any readers or listeners who have an opinion about this to reach out to ANZ, especially if they’re customers, and voice your displeasure.

“As we’ve seen in the past, customers’ opinions and responses, their feedback, the bank listens to it.

“Indeed, it seems that they listen to their customers more than their employees.”

In 2025, ANZ New Zealand announced a record statutory net profit after tax of $2.53 billion and a cash profit of $2.37 billion for the same 12-month period.