May 3, 2023 – The Finance Sector Union says the Commonwealth Bank is cutting 224 jobs from various parts of the bank’s operations, as part of a drive to reduce the lending giant’s costs.
The FSU on Wednesday said it had been notified by CBA that it would axe 158 jobs from its operations and technology, 38 positions in its venture capital unit X15, 25 jobs in its financial services and risk management area, and three jobs in global markets.
FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano slammed the move, arguing the bank did not need to cut jobs given it made a record $5.15 billion profit in the December half.
“The CBA consistently puts profits before people and in this case, we know these jobs are being axed to boost profits. It’s an obscene and immoral decision which staff at the CBA don’t deserve,” Angrisano said.
A bank spokesman did not comment directly on the job cut figures quoted by the FSU, but highlighted the large number of staff employed by CBA, and said that while it tried to redeploy staff affected by job cuts this was not always possible.
“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,” the spokesman said.
“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.”
CBA employed 52,000 people across its entire operations, he said, adding the lender had recruited more than 10,000 people since 2021.
The FSU said in a press release said the bulk of the job losses would be in NSW, where CBA would have 197 redundancies, and the rest would be spread across Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia.
The cuts come as major Australian banks are expected to unveil bumper profits in the coming days, helped by rising interest rates, but investors are also cautious about how stiff competition in mortgage lending could affect future earnings. CBA will deliver a quarterly trading update to investors next week.
Image by: The Sydney Morning Herald / BRENDON THORNE
