CBA to axe call centre jobs in AI-fuelled reductions 

Commonwealth Bank is now the latest Australian company set to carry out job cuts, fuelled by an increase in AI integration – calling into question CEO Matt Comyn’s seat at the upcoming productivity roundtable.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, through an investment in technology, “including AI,” is set to reduce the number of employees in its call centre department “to meet the changing needs of customers”.

Although CommBank did not disclose the number of roles set to be affected, the Finance Sector Union (FSU) has claimed that a total of 90 job roles will be cut, including 45 roles in direct banking, due to the introduction of a new voice bot system.

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

“… Our priority is to explore opportunities for redeployment and to support affected employees with care, dignity, and respect throughout the process.”

This decision arrived shortly after the FSU alleged that CommBank was in breach of its enterprise agreement (EA) by carrying out domestic redundancies and replacing them with roles at its Indian subsidiary – allegations that CBA denied.

“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 Finance Sector Union national secretary Julia Angrisano.

“Workers want a tech-savvy bank, but they expect to be part of the change, not replaced by it.

“… 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.”

As previously reported by HR Leader, back in May, CommBank cut another 163 jobs across its customer services roles, which increased the bank giant’s workforce reductions to nearly 800 over the past year.

At the time, FSU national assistant secretary Jason Hall questioned the bank’s reductions despite their profits.

“While CBA’s profits have swollen in the past year, they have sacked almost 800 workers in piecemeal announcements, no doubt in the hopes that these smaller job numbers wouldn’t be widely noticed.”

Now, the union is raising queries over CommBank chief executive Matt Comyn’s involvement in Jim Chalmers’ upcoming productivity roundtable, which is expected to delve into discussions around AI’s increased integration into the Australian workplace at the expense of workers.

“If this is what Matt Comyn calls productivity, we’re seriously concerned about his place at the national productivity roundtable. His carefully curated commitment to policy reform in Australia just looks like hollow PR when acts like this expose that his real agenda is just more profit for shareholders.

“… CBA made $10 billion last year. It has no excuse for treating its workforce like this.”

Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) assistant secretary Joseph Mitchell confirmed today (29 July) that the union will be calling for a set of mandatory agreements that ensure employees are consulted before AI implementation is pursued by their employer at the upcoming roundtable – drawing an early line in the sand between employers and unions before the meeting.

“We can realise the potential productivity benefits of AI while protecting the Australian fair go in the AI age. 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,” said Mitchell.

“Working people will not embrace AI if their key concerns, such as job security, are left unprotected.”

Mitchell went as far as claiming that businesses that fail to adhere to these AI agreements should be stripped of government funding.

“If an employer does not have an AI implementation agreement in place with their workers, that company should not be eligible for government funding, such as research and development incentives or government contracts,” he said.

The Economic Reform Roundtable is slated for 19 to 21 August.