CBA sacks workers, replaces them with AI
The Commonwealth Bank is “replacing skilled Australian workers with AI systems as well as cheaper offshore labour”, according to the Australian Finance Sector Union (FSU).
Commonwealth bank has been slammed for axing frontline jobs to be replace them with AI and offshore services.
But the bank said AI can make it “easier and faster for customers to get help”.
In a media release published on Tuesday, the FSU said the targeted job cuts would impact roles in Direct Banking and Customer Messaging roles which, it says, are characterised in large part by their reliance on human-to-human interaction.
“Workers affected by new technology should be retrained and supported into new roles, not discarded in the name of cost-cutting,” a union spokesman said
Just when we think CBA can’t sink any lower, they start cutting jobs because of AI on top of sneakily offshoring work back to India,” Ms Angrisano said.
“Workers want a tech savvy bank, but they expect to be part of the change, not replaced by it.
The union supports the use of new technology and AI in banking but says it must be done in partnership with workers, not at their expense.”
FSU National Secretary Julia Angrisano gave a scathing review of CBA’s decision on Monday, saying there was “no excuse for treating its workforce like this”.
The row between the FSU and CBA is just the latest in a spate of strongly-worded exchanges over AI and overseas-related job cuts, which have been ongoing since March.
A CBA spokesman told NewsWire that CBA hired more than 9,000 people in the 2025 financial year and were currently investing more than $2 billion in their operations.
“To meet the changing needs of our customers, like many organisations, we review the skills we need and how we’re organised to deliver the best customer experiences and outcomes,” the spokesman said.
At the time, CBA said “some roles and work can change”
It was widely reported in March that 164 jobs were cut from CBA’s technology division, most of which were concentrated in Sydney.
“Our focus is on providing our growing team with the right skills for evolving work,” a CBA spokesman said.
“Our priority is always to redeploy or re-skill for a new role or opportunity wherever possible.”
According to the World Economic Forum, Artificial Intelligence is expected to create roughly 69 million jobs in the next five years, but around 83 million will be eradicated
