Helping to support local employment and reducing the risk of offshore disruption, Westpac announced bringing back all dedicated voice roles to Australia and creating 1,000 jobs in the process. Seeking to bolster the strength and resilience of its operations and improve customer support, Westpac said the process would be completed in the next 12 months.
The announcement follows the unprecedented demand for customer support amid the pandemic.
Chief Executive Officer, Peter King, said: “While we have added additional resourcing to support unprecedented demand following COVID-19, and I thank our teams who have worked tirelessly helping customers, at times our response rates have been too slow.
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Slow response rates and the need to accelerate digitisation
Acknowledging there’s room for improvement in the response and customer service, Mr King also said “Today’s announcement is a further step in transforming our business and mortgage operations, helping to support local employment, reducing the risk of offshore disruption, and accelerating our ability to simplify processes through digitisation.
With the insourcing of all dedicated voice roles, Westpac noted the customer calls would be answered by someone in Australia.
Westpac joins the list of companies taking the insourcing pledge. Duluxgroup announced insourcing a major technology contract, creating 40 local jobs in IT.
Acknowledging the role of the changing working model amid the pandemic, Mr King also noted the “upgrade to our technology infrastructure over recent years” has enabled the teams to operate effectively at home or in other locations when needed.
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Accelerating simplification through digitisation
When Peter King took over as the CEO earlier this year, he announced Simplification through Digital Transformation a priority for the bank.
Mr King had said, “my medium-term priorities remain to drive performance through our lines of business and sharper accountability, simplify the business through digital transformation, and lift our service culture and risk management capability.”
Combining Group Operations and Technology, Australia’s oldest bank appointed Mr Scott Collary to lead technology strategy as Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Earlier this month, Westpac announced rolling out SD-WAN across branches aiming to improve customer experience and employee experience at bank branches. Started before COVID, Westpac stated the program aims to deliver better digital and technology services in the branches.
