What happened
In July 2025 the Commonwealth Bank of Australia confirmed 45 job cuts in customer service roles as it introduced an AI-powered 'voice-bot'. CBA said at the time its technology investment, including AI, was making it easier and faster for customers to get help in its call centres.
The Finance Sector Union raised a dispute at the Fair Work Commission, and said its members found workloads spiked after the bot arrived, with rising call volumes, overtime offered, and team leaders pulled onto the phones. In August 2025, ABC News reported CBA had backtracked, calling the decision an 'error' and apologising to the 45 affected employees after finding the roles were not redundant.
CBA admitted it 'did not adequately consider all relevant business considerations' and 'should have been more thorough in our assessment of the roles required'. Affected staff could keep their jobs, be redeployed, or leave. The union called the reversal a major win but said the damage was already done, and accused the bank of dressing up job cuts as innovation.
Why it happened
CBA judged the roles redundant before testing whether the voice-bot would reduce call volumes.
Call volumes rose after the bot was introduced, according to the union, so the work the roles covered did not disappear.
The bank said it did not adequately consider all relevant business considerations when announcing the cuts.
The lesson
Verify that automation actually removes the work before you cut the people who do it. Announcing redundancies on projected savings invites a public reversal.
Aftermath
CBA said it was reviewing its internal processes, and another Fair Work hearing was scheduled for the following week. CEO Matt Comyn said the full impact of AI on jobs was years away and noted about 2,000 extra staff hired recently, many in India. CBA reported a record $10.25 billion cash profit for the 2025 financial year. The union said it would keep collecting accounts of offshoring, automation and AI effects on workloads.
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