Commonwealth Bank Australia criticized for announcing job cuts: Accused of forcing employees out

The Commonwealth Bank is set to cut more than 200 jobs, the Finance Sector Union has announced.

A CBA spokesperson would not confirm the number of jobs being lost, but emphasised that roles being cut did not always mean a person was no longer employed.

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The FSU slammed the decision and said it would be seeking job guarantees for sacked staff in upcoming Enterprise Agreement negotiations.

The CBA announced a $5.15 billion profit for the half year to December 2022, FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano said, and should have maintained staff numbers in light of even greater profits expected from the major banks in the current half-year.

“This is nothing but a naked grab for profits at the expense of bank workers who have kept the CBA functioning during the pandemic and the post-pandemic economic restart,” Angrisano said.

“These are workers who are contributing to the record profits being made by the CBA, and yet the bank responds by pushing them out the door.”

Angrisano said the bank has seen its net interest income rise by 19 per cent as mortgage interest rates have gone up, but that’s “not enough” for them.

“The CBA consistently puts profits before people and in this case, we know these jobs are being axed to boost profits,” she said.

The jobs will be cut from different teams, the FSU said, including 158 jobs from Operations and Technology — 18 of which were outsourced.

Further cuts include 38 jobs from the x15 venture capital unit, 25 cuts in Financial Services and Risk Management and three jobs in Global Markets.

NSW would experience the highest number of job cuts, with a total of 197 for the state, the FSU said.

Nine Victorians, 16 Western Australians, five Queenslanders and one South Australian would also lose their jobs according to the FSU.

CBA responds

“CBA employs around 52,000 people across Australia and internationally and since 2021 we have recruited more than 10,000 people, reinforcing our position as one of Australia’s largest employers,” a CBA spokesperson said.

“To support the continuous improvement of our customers’ experience, we regularly review the skills we need and how we’re organised. That means from time to time, some roles and work will change or no longer be required.

“Where that happens, we will endeavour to find other roles for the people affected, although that’s not always possible.

“Such decisions are never easy nor are taken lightly. In those cases, we work closely with our people to provide career transition support.”

Bad for staff and consumers, FSU says

The FSU maintains the news would negatively affect staff and consumers.

“The CBA has axed 13 bank branches so far this year,” Angrisano said.

“Australian consumers have faced record losses from scams over the past year with $3.1 billion stolen and yet the CBA is now sacking a substantial number of workers from its financial crimes area.”