平和
和平
평화
ASIA
26 March 2014
Christopher Ng - World Economic Forum on East Asia 2010

Banking's Human Crisis

For bank CEOs, profits and bonuses are up, and the financial crisis is over. But for bank employees, a human crisis continues, with at least 200,00 jobs being lost since 2011.

For bank CEOs, profits and bonuses are up, and the financial crisis is over. But for bank employees, a human crisis continues, with at least 200,00 jobs being lost since 2011, according to a report by UNI Finance Global Union entitled "Banking: the Human Crisis -- job losses and the restructuring process in the financial sector".

In reality, many more jobs have been lost, since the report is based on a survey of only 26 countries in Europe, Asia-Pacific (Australia, Fiji, Malaysia, Philippines), Africa and the Americas (without the US).

Seven key trends in the finance sector are identified in the report.

First, deep restructuring continues in the wake of the financial crisis as the sector continues to adjust to the 2008 crisis. “Now there is a race to lower costs”, said one bank employee from the Netherlands.

Second, finance workers are being put under pressure to sell financial products worldwide. The pressure to sell is reported to be especially strong in Austria, Ireland, Italy, Spain, the UK, Australia, Fiji, Malaysia, Brazil and Burkina Faso. The European Commission has been critical of the quality of banking services to customers, and yet banks are still aiming for 10 to 15% return on equity.

Third, most job losses are affecting front line, back office and IT positions. In particular, older workers are being laid off or given early retirement while new workers are hired on less favourable conditions, such as positions with one-sided flexibility.

Fourth, offshoring is reducing jobs in some countries, and increasing them in others. It is imperative to maintain or raise skills and competences in recipient countries through Global Framework Agreements.

Fifth, in Europe most job losses at large companies are dealt with under collective agreements. In the Americas and Asia, union campaigns dominate as there are mostly no collective agreements or negotiations in place, except for some in Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Sixth, the poor health of finance workers is becoming the next phase of the financial crisis -- due mainly to strong pressure to sell, the fear of unemployment and having to face angry clients. A report showed that psychological harassment is highest in the banking sector, hurting 12% of employees.

Lastly, restructuring is backfiring onto business and productivity especially in Europe and Asia. Business risk is increasing, as workers' confidence to report issues to management is being adversely affected by the fear of losing their jobs.

UNI Finance Global Union, which represents finance sector employees, has a strong stake in a successful finance sector. Indeed, "UNI Finance is advocating for a well-run and sustainable banking system that can support the real economy, social welfare, and job creation within and outside the banking sector."

As they are argue, banks have a crucial role to play through “Real Banking”, that is, the financial intermediation between economic actors. But unfortunately, the real function of banks has been pushed aside by speculative investment banking.

The 2008 financial crisis and the ongoing restructuring and regulatory changes have led UNI to campaign for: (i) real banking; (ii) fair restructuring; and (iii) responsible sales of financial products.

"We need a sustainable customer-oriented finance sector", Jayasri Priyalal, UNI's Director for Finance in Asia & Pacific, told the ACI, "where customers have the right to good advice and high-quality products, and where finance employees have the right to give good advice in a safe and healthy environment which includes sufficient paid time, resources, training and realistic incentive systems based on longterm sustainable targets".

Author

John West
Executive Director
Asian Century Institute
www.asiancenturyinstitute.com
Tags: asia, banking job losses, global financial crisis, UNI Global Union

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