Commonwealth Bank’s AI Backtrack and the Broader Impact on Employment
Two months prior, Commonwealth Bank unveiled intentions to supplant 45 customer service roles with an artificial intelligence chatbot, only to subsequently retract this decision.
Nevertheless, the trend towards AI integration within the financial services and banking sectors is escalating, resulting in numerous job eliminations—although the correlation is seldom publicly acknowledged.
Dhanushi Jayatileka, a former employee at CBA, asserts that she is one of many displaced by AI advancements, highlighting an evolving reality in Australia’s labor market that unfolds largely out of public view.
Jayatileka, who dedicated four years to the bank’s back office, notes that her team has been gradually downsizing since 2024, compelling remaining employees to increasingly depend on AI technologies to undertake responsibilities previously handled by their departed colleagues.
“We are instructing the machine to ultimately assume our roles,” conveys Jayatileka, who is receiving support from the Finance Sector Union. “Our priority should be caring for people first.”
Experts caution that major Australian corporations are shedding substantial numbers of white-collar jobs in finance and technology, leveraging the rapid adoption of AI, while often failing to acknowledge the link between job losses and technological advancements.
Manju Ahuja, a professor specializing in information systems and technology management at the University of New South Wales, remarks that there exists an “observable” correlation between workforce transformations and the integration of AI tools.
“This is merely the surface of a much larger issue,” she comments, as many AI-induced job losses remain unrecorded.
Positions in sales, customer service, and entry-level white-collar roles are among the most susceptible to automation, corroborated by a study from the University of Queensland. These findings echoed insights provided by the government’s Jobs and Skills agency last month.
“When tasks can be standardized to a singular function, those positions are likely to disappear,” elaborates Evan Shellshear, an adjunct professor at UQ and co-author of the study.
Demand for consulting and accounting graduates is waning in Australia, as senior personnel increasingly rely on AI to perform typically mundane tasks historically assigned to junior staff.
CBA maintains that, aside from the aforementioned 45 customer service role eliminations, recent redundancies are not attributed to the heightened action of AI. A spokesperson expressed that the bank could not discuss specifics regarding individual employee situations.
The CBA has indicated that its overall workforce has expanded since 2021, with additional personnel recruited in non-automated sectors, despite reductions in other areas.
As one of several prominent Australian firms, CBA has extolled the enhanced efficiencies ushered in by AI in recent months. They assert that business bank inquiries are resolved three times faster, while both the output of engineering code alterations and automated customer service interactions have surged by one-third and one-fifth, respectively, leading to a reduction in call center wait times.
Corporate Restructuring in Australia
On Tuesday, ANZ bank announced it will terminate 3,500 of its over 40,000 employees by September 2026. The institution recently integrated an AI analysis tool named amie, marking a significant enhancement in AI applications across various functions, including software engineering and research. ANZ has not yet responded to inquiries.
Telstra, having shed 2,800 roles over the past year, anticipates an additional 550 cuts in 2025. The telecommunications company claims to have saved $301 million in labor costs during the fiscal year 2024-2025, as outlined in its recent annual report.
The majority of its remaining workforce utilizes the Microsoft AI assistant Copilot, with senior executives asserting that accelerated AI adoption will further reduce operational costs and decrease its 30,000-strong workforce.
The Bank of Queensland announced the elimination of 200 positions, including those in its call center, while collaborating with multinational technology firm Capgemini to advance its AI initiatives and handle specific inquiries abroad.
Spokespersons for both the Bank of Queensland and Telstra assert that these layoffs are not directly related to advancements in AI technologies, asserting that new tools will enhance staff efficiency in client service efforts. Telstra has stated it will engage with staff and unions regarding the long-term implications of AI on employment.
Westpac, actively promoting its adoption of AI technologies, is in the midst of reducing approximately 1,500 positions following the earlier offshoring of nearly 200 jobs in 2025. Tech enterprise Canva has recently terminated 10 out of its 12 technical writing positions.
When asked if the use of AI contributed to these job reductions, representatives from both companies indicated that the layoffs stemmed from evolving business requirements for certain roles, with affected employees receiving support.
AI’s ramifications on jobs have been increasingly noted in the United States, where around one in eight early-career positions in sectors heavily exposed to AI have been eradicated, as detailed in an August study from Stanford University.
Recent college graduates in the U.S. are experiencing an unemployment rate hovering near a historical high of 5% in 2025, with hiring rates dwindling as tech firms such as Salesforce and CrowdStrike pivot towards AI integration over fresh recruitment.
Although financial and tech firms argue that AI enhances opportunities for employees by automating mundane tasks, many Australians have had a different experience.
Kathryn Sullivan, one of the 45 customer service representatives at CBA, lamented that her expectations of coexisting with AI were misaligned.
“I anticipated that AI would assist us in performing our duties more effectively, relieving us of tedious tasks to improve service delivery,” she reflects. “However, the reality is that it is predominantly being utilized for workforce reductions.”
Source link: Theguardian.com.
