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SYDNEY: Westpac Banking Corp, Australia's third-largest lender, said yesterday it will send 126 roles offshore, as job cuts and offshoring ramps up with the nation's lenders slashing costs to protect profits amid slower loan growth.

Westpac's move to offshore roles comes on top of its announcement last month that 560 jobs would be cut. Smaller rival Australia and New Zealand Banking Group has announced that it would cut approximately 1,000 jobs in 2012.

Analysts predict that the Australia banking sector could see as many as 10,000 jobs lost over the new few years, or over seven per cent of the Australian financial sector workforce, as banks rein in costs.

Brian Johnson, a CLSA banking analyst, said that just as Westpac has done, many of the jobs that are cut will actually be moved offshore to reduce costs.

"Some of these workers have been in these jobs for years," said Leon Carter, secretary Finance Sector Union said in a statement.

"They have the skills to do the work, they've been loyal employees, and the only reason they are losing their jobs is because our most profitable bank thinks it can now get the job done more cheaply offshore," he added Australia's top banks, including National Australia Bank , Commonwealth Bank of Australia and ANZ, are among the country's largest employers with close to 40,000 employees each on their rolls.

While job cuts in the global banking industry are common in turbulent market conditions, Australian banks are coming off more than a decade of almost uninterrupted growth that saw them adding staff, growing assets and boosting profits several-fold. Reuters

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Westpac to move more jobs offshore