IAG proposes to close all its AMI stores

Under the proposal, up to 65 retail management store roles would be dissolved

BY HRD 25 Jun 2020

Insurance giant IAG announced on Tuesday that it would review aspects of its direct distribution model, which would see 53 AMI insurance stores close across New Zealand.

Under the proposal, up to 65 retail management store roles would be dissolved, while 350 roles were expected to move into digital teams and contact centres.

An IAG spokeswoman said that IAG would work with any employees impacted, with a commitment to retaining as many people as possible, according to Stuff.co.nz.

The union representing finance workers has described the proposal as “irresponsible and short-sighted”.

FIRST Union are claiming that big companies like AMI are using the Covid-19 crisis to justify business decisions that will harm workers and local communities and threaten to jeopardise the shared project of rebuilding local economies after the pandemic.

Callum Francis, FIRST Union National Organiser for Finance, said AMI is using Covid as an excuse to make self-interested business decisions that will make workers and communities around New Zealand worse off – “we have to call it what it is”.

“They are trying to ride a worrying wave in the finance industry where suddenly ‘digital-first’ strategies have re-emerged from the woodwork and workers are getting surprised by these ad-hoc consultation periods and over-reaching proposals that go far beyond what’s necessary to meet an increased customer preference for digital services,” said Francis.

“The workers I spoke to today were devastated and wanted me to convey that they see themselves and their jobs as actual parts of their local communities, not just assets on a balance sheet.”