The bank has announced plans to cut jobs across its technology, retail banking and business banking operations
The Commonwealth Bank has announced plans to cut 251 jobs across its technology, retail banking, and business banking operations, according to the Finance Sector Union.
This move comes as another sign of cost-cutting measures being implemented by a major bank.
The Finance Sector Union raised concerns about the reduction in staff, pointing that this comes on the heels of CBA cutting over 200 jobs just two months ago, according to a report by The Sydney Morning Herald. The bank's financial performance has been strong, with rising interest rates and low bad debts contributing to a healthy bottom line.
A spokesperson from CBA confirmed to the Herald that there had been discussions about the job cuts and did not dispute the possibility of 251 positions being affected. However, the spokesperson mentioned that some of the affected employees might have the opportunity to be redeployed to other roles within the bank.
Julia Angrisano, the Finance Sector Union's national secretary, expressed worries that the job cuts would put additional strain on the remaining staff, who were already facing staffing issues within the organisation.
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“The jobs being lost are specialists across a range of areas and it is hard to believe that the bank can afford to lose so many experienced staff at the same time that it has a significant overwork problem across the organisation,” Angrisano told the Herald. “CBA staff are concerned that the job losses will lead to further workload problems for remaining staff which will ultimately impact on customers.”
CBA's spokesperson told the publication that the bank currently employs approximately 50,000 people both in Australia and overseas. The bank has hired more than 10,000 people since 2021, and their priority is to communicate with the affected employees.
“As part of our focus on business improvement, we regularly review the skills we need and how we are organised. That means from time to time some roles and work can change or may no longer be required,” he said.
The reduction in jobs is not expected to affect customer-facing staff at CBA, the Herald reported. However, specific details about the reasons behind the job cuts were not provided. The trend of increasing digitization in finance has prompted banks to eliminate some back-office positions. Last month, the union also reported that Westpac had cut several hundred positions.
The announcement comes as CBA and the union clash over the bank’s return-to-work mandate, which the union has said breaches the bank’s enterprise agreement.
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