CBA faces union fury for cutting over 230 more jobs
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Less than two weeks after rumors that Commonwealth Bank of Australia was looking to cut hundreds of jobs, news of terminations has been confirmed, with the finance union expressing major concern.
Editor’s note: This story first appeared on HR Leader’s sister brand, Banking Daily.
In a text sent to popular Instagram page The Aussie Corporate last week, an anonymous tipster warned that CBA was looking to cut 300 staff, with potentially more at the end of the year.
“CBA change window 6-363 employees impacted, Another cull in Business banking, HR and tech. And there’s talks of redundancies at christmas [sic] time too…” the anonymous text reads.
Now, the Finance Sector Union (FSU) has unleashed criticism of CBA for plans to cut a confirmed over 200 staff.
“Around 230 already weary Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) workers are facing a bleak Christmas after learning that their jobs will be gone by year's end,” an FSU release reads.
“The latest 'structural and operational changes' tragically brings the number of CBA workers jettisoned by Australia's richest bank this year to 1000.”
According to the release, NSW technology staff are to be the hardest hit with 172 on the chopping block. The remaining 232 roles are facing redeployment.
For the end of the year, areas like Business Banking, Institutional Banking and Markets, Retail Banking Services and Support Units and the Chief Operations Office are also facing structural changes.
"These savage job cuts confirm that there will never be a profit margin big enough to satisfy Australia’s richest bank,” said FSU National Secretary Julia Angrisano.
“Despite ordinary workers helping the bank deliver a record $11 billion profit, Matt Comyn still deems it necessary to pull the plug on another 172 jobs just in time for Christmas.
"It is no wonder that 75% of CBA staff the FSU surveyed say they fear losing their job and half are considering leaving the company.
As the FSU points out, this comes just as CBA CEO Matt Comyn has scored himself a 30 per cent pay rise, giving him “nine million reasons to celebrate this Christmas,” the union added, taking aim at the CBA chief.
Angrisano said that if CBA wanted to avoid tarnishing his relationship with his staff, he had to make a number of changes, starting with halting job cuts.
"The only chance Matt Comyn has of repairing his shattered relationship with workers is to stop the job cuts, give staff an above-inflation pay rise, implement better conditions and safer workloads, and guarantee the security of their jobs."
Responding to Banking Daily's request for comment on the matter, a CBA spokesperson said that those whose jobs were terminated would be supported, and potentially moved into new positions at the bank.
"Customer needs, technology and how we work continue to evolve and we regularly review the capabilities we need and how our teams are organised. Our priority is to support our people to build the skills needed for new opportunities," the spokesperson told Banking Daily.
“Where roles are impacted, we provide practical support to our people to transition to new roles, where possible, and we are supporting that with a $90 million Future Workforce Program. This includes a voluntary four-week Career Transition Placement program for hands-on experience in suitable vacant roles, as well as a new Career Transition Hub that brings together coaching, skills assessment and access to internal vacancies to help people navigate change.
“More than 500 people whose roles were impacted by change in 2026 have transitioned into other roles within CBA.”
Jobs cut, pay up?
Despite the cuts, the FSU says it was able to secure a much fairer pay deal, with staff and the union having been fighting for improved rates.
Last week, the FSU said that CBA staff were majorly concerned by negligible pay rises.
“Staff at [CBA] have told the [FSU] they fear homelessness or financial ruin unless they receive a pay offer that delivers real wage growth,” the FSU wrote.
The concern is that the original pay offer would mean that around 71 per cent of the bank’s Australian workforce would receive an increase less than inflation in the first year, while 47 per cent would either receive no guaranteed increase at all, or just 2.5 per cent over three years.
In direct contrast to the bank’s profits and Comyn’s new salary, the lowest-paid staff at CBA make just 2.82 more than the national minimum wage (26.44).
Now however, the FSU says that it received an updated pay offer from the bank, following a petition from over 3,000 CBA and Bankwest workers calling out Comyn for the “dismal pay offer.” This also featured 1,700 messages from CBA workers.
“It’s insulting to be offered a ‘pay rise’ which is below inflation - that’s a pay cut,” said one staffer.
“There are no holidays, no eating out, no extracurricular activities for the kids anymore. We are pretty much just breaking even each month holding our breath for the next bill increase or rate rise to send us over the edge,” said another.
The messages were hand delivered to the CBA Sydney HQ by Angrisano herself.
“The FSU Bargaining Team's view is clear: CBA's new pay offer is not good enough. After posting a record $11 billion profit, CBA can afford to do better - and FSU members deserve better.”
The FSU is holding meetings to get opinions from union members to determine whether or not the new offer is sufficient. It is also inviting them to provide messages for the CBA Annual General Meeting on October 14 next month.
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