Commonwealth Bank to face questions over AI, offshoring
Commonwealth Bank faces a showdown with angry workers at its AGM today after being forced to backtrack twice on controversial plans.
Workers and union officials will “confront” leadership at Commonwealth Bank’s annual general meeting today, demanding transparency over plans for AI and offshoring strategies.
The Finance Sector Union (FSU) has called out CBA again after months of controversy surrounding job redundancies, with the bank twice being forced to backtrack on cuts.
CBA is set to hold its AGM at Brisbane’s Gabba stadium on Wednesday morning, where top brass will update shareholders on a financial year in which it made $10 billion in profit.
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But it has also hit headlines over job cuts, including a July call to remove 45 roles from its call centre department, which the bank planned to replace with an AI chatbot.
That decision was later reversed in August after a challenge in the Fair Work Commission (FWC), with the bank calling it an “error” and acknowledging workloads had increased.
Then in October, CBA admitted it had offshored two positions to India that were deemed redundant in Australia after a review of 283 jobs cuts announced in June.
The FSU said Australia’s biggest bank also removed 30 online job adds “for roles in India that had the same job titles as roles being cut here”.
“CBA’s backflips and admissions show pressure and panic, not principle. Workers deserve better,” FSU National Assistant Secretary Nicole McPherson said in a statement on Wednesday.
“AI and offshoring aren’t future risks; they’re real threats today. CBA needs to front up and be honest.”
The union was also notified on Tuesday that CBA was set to slash another 108 jobs across multiple Australian divisions.
CBA was contacted for comment.
The FSU says among staff who will tell CBA chief executive Matt Comyn and the board of the human impact of “replacing secure jobs with AI” will be ex-employee Kathryn Sullivan.
It is expected she will ask questions from the floor during the meeting.
Ms Sullivan told an AI symposium in Canberra last month she “inadvertently trained” the chatbot that replaced her job after 25 years at the bank.
The 63-year-old had expected to be redeployed after her role training the bot was finished but instead was told she was no longer required.
“While I embrace the use of AI and I can see a purpose for it in the workplace and outside, I believe there needs to be some sort of regulation to prevent copyright (infringements) … or replacing humans,” she said in September.
“You still need the human touch.”
The FSU says in the past financial year CBA India’s headcount increased by 21 per cent from 5630 to 6788 – a 138 per cent increase since 2022.
Ms McPherson questioned why CBA had been “cutting Australian jobs and expanding offshore” in a year when it made $10 billion in profit.
“That’s not innovation, it’s abandonment. Workers and the public deserve transparency, not spin,” she said.
“Last year CBA promised open dialogue on AI and offshoring — but instead we’ve seen more local capability cut while cheaper offshore jobs grow. Workers deserve transparency, not broken promises.”
CBA’s notice of meeting for Wednesday’s meeting says it had more than 55,000 employees and paid $8 billion salaries in the last financial year.
It has more than 18 million customers, and is the biggest company on the Australian Stock Exchange – making up 11.5 per cent of the index.
CBA previously explained its decision to cut, and then reverse, 45 jobs from its service department saying it had expected using the chatbot would slash 2000 calls per week
“CBA’s initial assessment that the 45 roles were not required did not adequately consider all relevant business considerations and this error meant the roles were not redundant,” a spokesman said.
“We have apologised to the employees concerned and acknowledge we should have been more thorough in our assessment of the roles required.
“We are also reviewing our internal processes to improve our approach going forward.”
In responding to that dispute over 283 jobs slashed from tech and retail services, it said the
“review has been completed and has been resolved. This is reflected in a memorandum from the FWC to the FSU and CBA”.
Mr Comyn said in August the bank added more than 2000 jobs in the last financial year, but many of those role were based in India.
