ANZ Bank is under fire for an automated email that mistakenly informed dozens of employees that they had been fired. In response, the bank’s new chief executive, Nuno Matos, released a public apology. The incident has cast doubt on the bank’s communication strategy and overall employee relations.
Ferry service advocates Nuno Matos and Chris Leman both condemned the action as “indefensible” and “deeply disappointing.” Our bank is trying to understand how it came to be that these firing notifications were sent out this way. The email went out at 6 a.m. That only compounded the anguish of those who were impacted by the tragedy.
The union that represents those workers, united here with their president Wendy Streets, Right, said they were appalled by the way this was handled. People for Bikes labelled the episode “botched”, and Streets Blog called it a “disgusting” move. They argued that ANZ needed to have more regard for their employees.
“Speed and cost-cutting cannot come at the expense of dignity and respect for workers,” Streets emphasized, highlighting the broader implications of such actions within corporate culture.
The storm over ANZ’s automated, AI-generated death notice is hardly an isolated case. zoom firing 2021 In 2021, CEO Vishal Garg laid off 900 employees of the US mortgage company Better on a public Zoom call with millions of online views. He recanted later, acknowledging this as a mistake and misfire. These types of events have generated significant conversation around the ethical implications of how companies publicly disclose toxic chemicals.
Facing public outrage, ANZ Bank released a public apology to those employees, many still on the job, who were let go. Bruce Rush, a spokesperson for the bank, stated, “It was not our intention to share such sensitive news with you in this way, and I apologise unconditionally.”
Investigation still continues as well. It’s not clear at all what steps ANZ will implement to ensure that similar incidents don’t occur in the future. This week’s incident has spotlighted ANZ’s internal policies. It shines the light on critical questions of workplace treatment across industries that employ low-paid, predominately Black and Brown workers.