Commonwealth Bank of Australia Cuts Jobs as AI Takes Over Customer Service Roles

Australian lender CBA to cut 45 jobs in AI shift, draws union backlash

July 29 (Reuters) - Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX), opens new tab confirmed on Tuesday it is cutting 45 jobs as part of a shift toward using artificial intelligence to handle certain tasks, prompting a union to accuse the bank of excluding workers from the evolving economy. CBA, the country's biggest lender, said it is currently investing more than A$2 billion ($1.30 billion) in its operations, including frontline teams and technology services, due to which "some roles and work can change". Australia's Finance Sector Union (FSU) has accused CBA of axing frontline roles in favour of automation and offshoring. In a statement, the union claimed that a total of 90 roles were being eliminated, including 45 positions in the bank's direct banking system. According to the FSU, these jobs were cut following the introduction of a new voice bot system on the bank's inbound customer enquiries line in June. "We're also proactively creating new roles to support career growth and help our people transition into future-fit opportunities," CBA said. The bank said it is consulting on the affected roles and looking at other internal jobs and reskilling opportunities for its people, while it denied offshoring jobs as per the FSU's claim. ($1 = 1.5328 Australian dollars) Reporting by Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

'There is a human cost': Australia's largest company starts replacing jobs with AI

Australia's largest company has come under fire once again after another round of job cuts, with the roles being culled set to be replaced by artificial intelligence. Commonwealth Bank of Australia is replacing 45 jobs in its call centre with AI, the Finance Sector Union said. These roles are being cut due to the introduction of a new voice bot system to deal with customer enquiries. Another 45 jobs will be offshored CBA India where the major bank is advertising for customer messaging roles, according to the union. It marks the first time a bank has informed the union its job cuts are due to AI. The FSU's national secretary Julia Angrisano said the job cuts had stirred outrage as concerns about AI replacing humans mount. "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," Ms Angrisano said. "Workers want a tech savvy bank, but they expect to be part of the change, not replaced by it. "Our members want to be trained and supported into better jobs that leverage AI. Yet rather than invest in its people the CBA are simply discarding Australians through ongoing redundancies and offshoring." She stressed the change would hurt Aussie customers who may receive a poorer service due to CBA's job cuts. "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," Ms Angrisano said. "Customers shouldn't expect to speak to someone in Australia anymore, or even someone with a voice box. "CBA made $10 billion last year. It has no excuse for treating its workforce like this." A CBA spokesperson said the bank's investment in AI was "making it easier and faster for customers to get help, especially in our call centres". "By automating simple queries, our teams can focus on more complex customer queries that need empathy and experience," a statement from the spokesperson read. "Recognising that the work context is evolving, and based on individual situations, many of our people have taken up the upskilling and reskilling pathways made available for them to continue their careers at the bank and build capabilities for future opportunities." They said the bank was "exploring opportunities for redeployment" for employees impacted by the job cuts. The latest row between the FSU and CBA follows the union taking the major bank to the Fair Work Commission for allegedly breaching a contract by outsourcing hundreds of jobs to India. It also comes after the FSU demanded answers from CBA over the axing of 164 jobs from the bank's technology division. Just weeks after this, the FSU hit out over plans to axe 90 roles at CBA's subsidiary Bankwest.