Commonwealth Bank cuts 116 Aussie jobs as it's 'digital bank' closes branches

Commonwealth Bank (CBA) will cut more than 100 jobs across Australia, with the country’s biggest bank citing “efficiency and simplification” as a common reason. It comes after the major bank reported a $9.5 billion profit last financial year.

The Finance Sector Union (FSU) confirmed that 116 jobs would be cut across a range of areas at the bank. The largest number of job losses will be in New South Wales, followed by Victoria and Western Australia.

The union said 47 jobs would be culled from the retail operations team, while 21 would be cut from the chief technology office and 15 from strategy and performance.

RELATED

• CBA's Australia-first tool to combat $1.6 billion identity fraud scourge: 'Urgent alert'

• Royal Australian Mint responds after rare $2 coins 'worth $3,000' handed to Woolworths shoppers

• RBA sounds rate cut alarm after denying Aussies interest relief: 'Message is clear'

The latest round of job cuts comes as CBA subsidiary Bankwest transitions to a digital bank, with 45 branches to be closed by October.

The FSU said it had lodged a dispute against CBA at the Fair Work Commission on behalf of Bankwest members and was calling for the bank to commit to no further job cuts and better pay and conditions in a new enterprise agreement.

“In addition to the closure of Bankwest branches, impacting 350 jobs, the Commonwealth Bank has cut over 280 jobs from Western Australia in the past two years,” FSU national assistant secretary Jason Hall said.

“At the same time, the Bank is trying to force an inferior Enterprise Agreement on its loyal Bankwest workers at a time when inflation and cost of living is eroding workers’ pay.”

Do you have a story to share? Contact tamika.seeto@yahooinc.com

CBA responds

A CBA spokesperson told Yahoo Finance the bank employed around 54,000 people across the country and internationally.

"As part of our focus on business improvement, we regularly review our processes, how we are organised and the skills we need to deliver the best experiences for our customers," the spokesperson said.

"That means some roles and work can change – they may no longer be required, or new roles are created."

The spokesperson said the bank's "priority" was to "deploy or reskill" impacted staff for a new role or opportunity were possible.

"This means that many of our people may remain with us. We are working closely with every individual to support them with respect and care," they said.

It comes as the major bank trials an artificial intelligence chatbot that could potentially replace thousands of local call centre staff. The current job changes are unrelated.

Called HeyCommBank, the ChatGPT-style platform is part of a wider push into artificial intelligence. The bank is conducting trials by testing technology on employees of the bank who are also customers.

Get the latest Yahoo Finance news - follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.