One of Australia’s largest banks has apologised to staff who found out they had been fired through an automated email asking them to hand back their laptops.

ANZ’s retail banking executive Bruce Rush said it was “not our intention to share such sensitive news with you in this way” as the firm cuts jobs in its retail banking business.

The bank said the emails were sent to some staff ahead of schedule in error. It said it has since stopped sending the emails and that staff have been spoken to personally.

The Financial Sector Union said the email caused “panic and distress” and was a result of the company forcing through a “chaotic pace of change”.

The union’s president Wendy Streets said it had not been consulted on the changes the bank was making, adding that “ANZ must do better”.

“Speed and cost-cutting cannot come at the expense of dignity and respect for workers,” Ms Streets said, describing the “botched” episode as “disgusting”.

Mr Rush wrote in an email to staff: “Unfortunately, these emails indicate an exit date for some of our colleagues before we’ve been able to share their outcome with them.”

ANZ said that once it realised the email had been sent mistakenly it apologised to staff and called a virtual meeting to take any questions on the matter. It said it also bought forward formal conversations with staff about their roles.

ANZ said that, during changes to its organisation’s structure, it was committed to treating employees with dignity and respect.

“It was not our intention to share such sensitive news with you in this way, and I apologise unconditionally,” Mr Rush wrote in his email to staff.

The bank’s chief executive Nuno Matos has reportedly told media outlets the move was “indefensible”, “deeply disappointing”, and that the bank was now investigating the incident.

This is not the first time a large company has been criticised for the way in which it told staff they had been fired.

In 2021, 900 staff were fired in an online Zoom call by their boss Vishal Garg, the head of US mortgage firm Better, who later accepted it was a blunder and badly handled.