‘More than 80′ roles on the line as MYOB restructures support

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MYOB has confirmed possible layoffs as it consults staff on a move to outsource some support roles.

An MYOB insider told the Herald that “more than 80″ positions could be culled from the accounting software firm, which has offices on both sides of the Tasman. Consultation is happening through to March 1.

An MYOB spokesman said the company is in discussions with Concentrix, an outsourcing firm that has operations in the Philippines and NZ, among other countries, but he could not confirm how many jobs were on the line.

“These conversations are ongoing so MYOB is not in a position to confirm numbers,” the MYOB spokesman said.

The move mirrors consultation at Sky TV, which earlier this week said up to 170 local helpdesk, content and technology roles could go - as early as mid-March - as positions are offshored to the Philippines and India.

And it is MYOB’s second support restructure within four months. In October last year, a number of support roles were offshored to Manila in an exercise that affected 14 positions in New Zealand.

This afternoon, MYOB told the Herald: “We’re deeply committed to the New Zealand market and to helping local businesses in Australia and New Zealand succeed. While most of our customer support roles remain in Australia and New Zealand, as part of our SaaS [software as a service or ‘cloud’] platform evolution, we are working through proposed changes to our Australia and New Zealand SME [Small to Medium Business] Support, Operations and Workforce Operations teams.

“This forms part of our efforts to deliver an accessible and efficient service and support model for our customers. This includes extending our online support and chat solutions through our existing partner, Concentrix.

“Our focus is on supporting our team members through this process, including assessing opportunities for redeployment where possible.”

In July last year, ANZ confirmed it was in talks to buy MYOB from its private equity owner, KKR.

The previously ASX-listed MYOB was acquired by KKR for A$2.4 billion ($2.6b) in 2019 after the US private equity giant bought the shares it did not already own.

The talks ultimately led nowhere. It was reported that ANZ baulked at a A$4.5b price tag.

Melbourne-based MYOB, which today claims around 1.2 million customers (to Xero’s 3.3 million), was formed in the 1980s and has grown through acquisition - including two key deals involving New Zealand companies.

One was Auckland-based Banklink, which it bought in June 2013 for $136 million from founders Derek Jones, Malcolm MacDonald and Stephen Agnew.

The other was a A$224m deal in 2004 to acquire Solution 6 - which had recently merged with Auckland online accounting pioneer Exonet, co-founded by Maurice Bryham and Satellite Spies frontman Mark Loveys.

Banklink provided crucial automated bank feed capability, while Exonet brought cloud smarts.

MYOB also scooped up three New Zealand payroll software makers: PayGlobal for $9m in 2014, Ace Payroll for $14m the same year and IMS for $10m in 2015.

The firm had annual revenue of A$445m and A$190m in underlying ebitda before KKR took it private in May 2019.