Australia’s biggest bank to cut 120 more jobs amid AI push

[SYDNEY] Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) will eliminate around 120 roles amid a broader push to harness artificial intelligence at the nation’s largest lender.

As part of the reductions, some 43 of the roles will be from Bankwest, CBA’s subsidiary based in Western Australia, and include mobile lending managers, the Finance Sector Union said in a statement on Thursday (Apr 23). Six of the roles cut were “impacted by automation,” the statement said.

The reductions come two months after a separate round of cuts that will claim around 300 roles, the union said at the time, as part of efforts to further embrace AI. In February, CBA unveiled its A$90 million (S$82.2 million) Future Workforce Program aimed at building AI skills among its existing employees.

A spokesperson for CBA said the bank grew its workforce in the prior financial year and that it regularly reviews the roles and skills required to serve customers. CBA has around 49,000 staff.

“Some roles are shifting, new roles are being created, and some roles are reducing as programmes finish, work is simplified and the mix of roles and skills across the bank evolves,” the spokesperson said.

Last year, the bank backtracked on an effort to cut 45 customer service roles it sought to replace with AI. BLOOMBERG