Job cuts and outsourcing in Westpac loom

The move will likely boost the lender’s productivity and reduce cost as it expect slow growth period to extend.

A new push by Westpac Banking Corporation to improve productivity is likely to result in job losses and outsourcing overseas.

The bank plans to reconfigure its back office and IT structures in order to achieve revenue growth amid weak loan demand and consumer confidence.

"We certainly recognise the new reality of banking," chief executive Gail Kelly told analysts on Tuesday.

"We're into a slow growth period and we expect that's going to be continued in the period to come.

"We're not going to go back to the environment of pre-global financial crisis ... and so we need more productivity to actually drive appropriate returns and sustainable returns to shareholders."

Slow credit demand saw Westpac's cash earnings for the three months to June 30 of $1.55 billion fall two per cent on the average of the first and second quarters.

View the full story in The Australian.