Following Ford's announcement of shutting down its manufacturing business in 2016, two of the Australia's biggest private sector companies have also just announced its plan to streamline its workforce soon.

Casino giant Crown and ANZ Bank are cutting Victorian jobs amid economic forecasts of a six percent unemployment rate by the end of 2013.

According to a source at Crown, the $9.35 billion firm is bent on giving the pink slip to remedy redundancies in the areas of administration, marketing and back office staff. Crown is to date Victoria's biggest single-site private employer.

A company assessment is expected to "lead to some positions being abolished and some new positions being created," Crown spokesperson Gary O'Neill said.

He said that a reduction of less than 50 positions is expected at this point while the reviews are still being made. This figure represents "less than 0.8 percent of Crown's employees in Melbourne," he said.

Based on Crown's annual report, there are around 8,800 employees in the company's Melbourne location. Mr. O'Neill said the employment rate at Crown had risen consistently in the last five years.

ANZ Bank, meanwhile, is the latest private company to generate jobs outside of Australia. It is giving up 70 call center positions in Melbourne and moving them to New Zealand. Bank staff had been informed last week of the company's decision to transfer jobs from its office in South Melbourne to New Zealand where it is building a stronger base of 175 employees at present. The bank plans to boost its current staff in charge of responding to Australian customers' concerns.

The bank had expressed its intent to reduce jobs not by direct lay off due to redundancies but through natural streamlining scheme. But the labour union maintains an ambivalent attitude towards the move saying that off-shoring had also inevitably led to layoffs in the past.

This recent announcement of Crown and ANZ, according to observers, clearly underscores the delicate condition of Australia's job market. Thousands of workers have been informed of their impending job loss, including those employed by Ford, GlaxoSmithKline and bankrupt cleaning contractor Swan Services. Telstra had also expressed intent to undergo massive job termination.

According to statistics, Victoria's unemployment rate of 5.8 percent is slightly higher than Australia's steady rate of 5.5 in April. Economists predict unemployment ratio to reach 6 percent by year end.

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