Commonwealth Bank said it was looking at deployment opportunities for impacted staff. (Source: AAP)
Commonwealth Bank is axing dozens of roles in its customer call centres and has cited artificial intelligence as the reason behind the cull. The major bank introduced a new chatbot system to answer customer inquiries in June.
A total of 90 jobs are due to be cut by the bank, according to the Finance Sector Union (FSU). That includes 45 roles in direct banking that are being impacted by the new voice bot system and local customer messaging specialist roles who interact with customers through the bank’s online chat.
A Commonwealth Bank spokesperson told Yahoo Finance it was currently investing more than $2 billion into its operations, including frontline teams and technology services.
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“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. That means some roles and work can change,” the spokesperson said.
“Our investment in technology, including AI, is making it easier and faster for customers to get help, especially in our call centres.
“By automating simple queries, our teams can focus on more complex customer queries that need empathy and experience.”
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CBA briefed the union on the cuts last week and revealed the new voice bot, which identifies and verifies customers and provides balance checks, had reduced the volume of calls by 2,000 a week.
The FSU has criticised the Big Four bank for axing frontline roles in favour of automation. The union said while it supported the use of new technology and AI in banking, it must be done in partnership with workers, not at their expense.
“Workers want a tech savvy bank, but they expect to be part of the change, not replaced by it,” FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano said.
“There is a human cost to this. You can’t just replace frontline jobs with a voice bot and expect the same service for customers.”
FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano has criticised CBA for axing frontline roles due to AI. (Source: FSU)
The FSU has also claimed the Commonwealth Bank is offshoring jobs to India, however, the bank has denied this.
Commonwealth Bank noted it was one of the country’s biggest employers, hiring more than 9,000 people in the 2025 financial year. It said it was looking at other internal jobs and re-skilling opportunities for impacted staff.
“Our priority is to explore opportunities for redeployment and to support affected employees with care, dignity, and respect throughout the process,” the spokesperson said.
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The bank employs some 38,000 staff in Australia, with around 3,000 working in call centres.
It comes as Australian Unions seek tougher regulations around the use of AI in workplaces.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions said it would use next month’s Economic Reform Roundtable to call for a new set of mandatory enforceable agreements that would force employers to consult with staff before new AI technologies can be introduced into workplaces.
Employers would be required to reach agreements around guarantees for job security, skills development and retraining, transparency over technology use, privacy and data collection and use protections.
“We can realise the potential productivity benefits of AI while protecting the Australian fair go in the AI age,” ACTU assistant secretary Joseph Mitchell said.
“But we can’t wish away the major disruptions and social risks that the bad use of AI and other new tech poses, through massive job losses and the theft of creative and intellectual property by big tech companies.”
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