The Commonwealth Bank has reversed a decision to cut 45 call centre jobs as it rolls out an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, admitting it made a mistake and failed to properly consider “all business considerations” when it made the cuts.
CBA last month said it was introducing a new system that would automate simple queries from customers to its call centres, and this meant it no longer needed 45 positions.
Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn.Credit: AFR
However, the Finance Sector Union (FSU) said their members then struggled with a rising volume of calls, and management needed to scramble by offering overtime and pulling team leaders onto the phones.
After a dispute at the Fair Work Commission and pressure from the union, the bank has now backflipped and will allow the workers to keep their jobs, a move that was first reported in the Australian Financial Review.
CBA on Thursday confirmed the change, saying it would now give the affected 45 staff the choice of staying in their current jobs, taking a redundancy or pursuing redeployment within the bank.
The bank is still using the chatbot and rolling out other AI technology – indeed, investment in AI was a top priority for chief executive Matt Comyn at its latest results.
FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano.Credit:
FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano said the backflip was a massive win for the workers, and members wanted to be part of the conversation about how technology was used in banking.
“CBA has been caught out trying to dress up job cuts as innovation. Using AI as a cover for slashing secure jobs is a cynical cost-cutting exercise, and workers know it,” Angrisano said.
A CBA spokesman admitted the mistake, said it had apologised to staff and it was reviewing its internal processes.
“CBA’s initial assessment that the 45 roles in our Customer Service Direct business were not required did not adequately consider all relevant business considerations and this error meant the roles were not redundant,” he said.
“We have apologised to the employees concerned and acknowledge we should have been more thorough in our assessment of the roles required … we are also reviewing our internal processes to improve our approach going forward.”