In January this year Mercer Administration Services head Craig Rice excitedly told the Mercury 'we're open for business in Wollongong'.
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His comments came after the company had been appointed AvSuper's preferred administrator.
On Tuesday hundreds of staff at the Coniston-based superannuation company were fearing for their jobs after news filtered through that the company will lose its major client Aware Super, previously First State Super.
Community and Public Sector Union (CPSA) NSW assistant secretary Troy Wright said while it was still early days, losing such a major client meant bad news for the 500 workers, 300 of who are on an enterprise agreement.
"Losing such a major client we can expect a large number of redundancies over the next 18 months," he said.
"This is another example where the private sector hasn't done it better than the public sector, it has done it worse.
"The ultimate loser in this is going to be the Illawarra. There will be well over 100 well paying jobs that will disappear I suspect."
Investing firm Mercer bought the former state-run Pillar in 2016.
CPSA Illawarra organiser Bart McKenzie added the latest development highlighted the failure of privatisation in delivering jobs for the region.
"Now, just over three years later staff are fearing for their jobs," he said.
"Privatisation hasn't worked here. Having lost this major client, it's possible that these jobs will not be in Wollongong anymore.
"It really is an uncertain landscape, especially where we are in the world at the moment. Staff are on eggshells every time the company loses a major client.
"They are hard workers. It is really important to the region they don't lose their jobs because these good paying jobs don't get replaced."
A Mercer spokesperson said the company would continue to work closely with Aware Super to transition services to them over the next two years.
"We are working through the implications for our colleagues, particularly those who are dedicated to the Aware Super account," the spokesperson said.
"At this stage, Aware Super has indicated that their move to in-house administration is likely to occur in mid-2022 giving us a long runway to work with our people and to manage this change.
"Right now, our immediate priority is to ensure all colleagues are aware of this news and are well supported, especially during a primarily remote-working environment."
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
