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The Finance Sector Union says that Commonwealth Bank has been forced to come clean about misleading staff and their union over job cuts and offshoring, following a Fair Work Commission ruling.
The Finance Sector Union (FSU) has secured a significant victory for Australian bank workers, forcing the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) to admit it misled staff and their union over job cuts and the offshoring of roles to India.
In a judgment last week, the Fair Work Commission found CBA had not been fully transparent about its latest round of redundancies, having initially denied that any of the 283 jobs cut in June were being replaced overseas.
However, when the commission directed the bank to carry out a review, it revealed that at least two of the Australian roles being cut were in fact being duplicated within its Indian operations.
Shortly after the review, CBA quietly removed 30 online job advertisements for roles in its Indian operations that shared similar or identical job titles to the Australian roles being made redundant.
As the bank revealed plans to cut nearly 300 jobs across its technology and retail banking services teams, the FSU pointed out that it was simultaneously advertising a “significant number of near-identical roles” in India.
According to the union, CBA’s Indian workforce has surged by 21 per cent over the past year, rising from 5,630 to 6,788 employees – a staggering 138 per cent increase since 2022, when the bank first began reporting its offshore headcount.
During the judgment, the commission identified “inconsistencies” between CBA’s public statements and its international practices, recommending that the bank work with the FSU to review its processes and improve transparency in future restructures.
FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano stressed the importance of holding CBA accountable for its lack of transparency around offshoring, particularly while the bank continues to generate billions in profit.
“Without challenge, these jobs would have disappeared without scrutiny. We held CBA to account, forcing them to come clean, exposing what the bank was trying to hide,” Angrisano said.
“This is about accountability; Australia’s largest bank cannot quietly ship jobs offshore while telling staff and customers otherwise.
“CBA is making billions in profit while trying to cut jobs in Australia and expanding operations offshore. Our members deserve honesty, security and genuine accountability. Only by holding the bank accountable can we protect workers.”
In light of these revelations, Angrisano emphasised that the FSU is demanding the bank “stop any further offshoring and to guarantee transparency and accountability in all future restructures”.
The FSU has a history of pushing back against the CBA on job cuts. Earlier this year, sustained union pressure forced the bank to abandon plans to axe positions tied to the introduction of artificial intelligence.
In response to the matter, a CBA spokesperson told news.com.au that the review has been “completed” and “resolved”.
“Two of the 283 roles reviewed were product owner roles located in Australia, where the majority of the team and the work [were] being performed in India,” the spokesperson said.
“However, in June 2025, we provided a rationale that these roles were no longer required.
“This information was provided to the FWC and FSU. The review has been completed and has been resolved.”
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Offshoring is the practice of hiring labour from other nations to carry out a portion of corporate activities to benefit from tax savings, lower wages, or less regulation. This happens frequently in businesses like call centres and manufacturing.
