Staff, union to confront CBA over AI plans

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) leaders will be confronted by members of the finance union and bank staff regarding AI and offshoring plans, after the bank rewound some of its AI implementation that led to a wave of terminations.

Editor’s note: This story first appeared on HR Leader’s sister brand, Cyber Daily.

At the bank’s annual general meeting, where leaders will inform shareholders of its $10 billion profit for the financial year, members of the Finance Sector Union (FSU) and CBA staff will confront the bank’s leaders over the AI push and the quick reversal.

“CBA’s backflips and admissions show pressure and panic, not principle. Workers deserve better,” said FSU national assistant secretary Nicole McPherson.

“AI and offshoring aren’t future risks; they’re real threats today. CBA needs to front up and be honest.”

The FSU found that CBA India’s headcount increased from 5,630 to 6,788, a 21 per cent increase in the past financial year, and a 138 per cent increase since 2022.

McPherson asked why local jobs were being cut and replaced with offshore workers when the bank was reporting $10 billion in profit.

“That’s not innovation, it’s abandonment. Workers and the public deserve transparency, not spin,” she said.

“Last year, CBA promised open dialogue on AI and offshoring – but instead, we’ve seen more local capability cut while cheaper offshore jobs grow. Workers deserve transparency, not broken promises.”

Former CBA employee Kathryn Sullivan is just one of the people joining the FSU in confronting CBA and its CEO, Matt Comyn, over the AI.

As reported by news.com.au, the 63-year-old revealed at an AI symposium in Canberra last month that she had “inadvertently trained” the AI tool that replaced her.

Sullivan expected to be shifted to another role once she had trained the bot, but instead, her position was terminated.

“While I embrace the use of AI and I can see a purpose for it in the workplace and outside, I believe there needs to be some sort of regulation to prevent copyright (infringements) … or replacing humans,” she said last month, as seen by News.com.au.

“You still need the human touch.”

The FSU was also notified that CBA had planned to cut an additional 108 jobs on top of the previously announced 304.

According to CBA’s notice for the annual general meeting, the bank has over 55,000 staff, which it paid $8 billion in salaries in the last fiscal year.

The company is the largest on the Australian Stock Exchange, with 11.5 per cent of the index, and has over 18 million customers.

Comyn said 2,000 jobs were added to CBA in the last financial year, but many of those were offshore in India.

Background

In July, CBA announced that it would be culling at least 45 customer service workers and replacing them with AI support chatbots. The bank also cut 304 of its 38,000 Australian staff in favour of 110 new jobs in India, lowering costs despite record profits of $9.8 billion in the 2024–25 fiscal year.

“Our investment in technology, including AI, is making it easier and faster for customers to get help, especially in our call centres,” a CBA spokesman said regarding the voice bot.

The move was immediately slammed by the Finance Sector Union (FSU).

“Just when we think CBA can’t sink any lower, they start cutting jobs because of AI on top of sneakily offshoring work to India,” said FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano.

However, it turns out CBA’s claims of the AI lowering call volumes were false, with FSU members reporting that volumes were increasing, leading to CBA management asking team leaders to pick up the phones and the company offering overtime.

Following major pressure from FSU members and a Fair Work Commission dispute, the CBA decided to roll back the mass termination. Staff were offered their jobs back or the option to take a voluntary exit payment.

CBA said it would review its processes to improve how it goes about making changes going forward.

“CBA’s initial assessment that the 45 roles were not required did not adequately consider all relevant business considerations, and this error meant the roles were not redundant,” a spokesman 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.”

The bank has since said that the “review has been completed and has been resolved. This is reflected in a memorandum from the FWC to the FSU and CBA”.