Commonwealth Bank cut 45 jobs after launching a voice bot. A month later, it called the cuts an "error."

From the archive. First reported by iTnews, July 2025. Where it stands now: Unknown, as of October 2026, no current source found. Why I saved this: A bank with a record A$10.25 billion cash profit cut 45 roles after launching a voice bot, then called the cuts an "error" as, per the union, calls rose. It's a lesson in counting the savings before the bot has proved itself.

August 2025 — Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has reversed 45 job cuts it had tied to an AI "voice bot" in its call centres. Here's what changed after the bot went live, what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of August 2025)

Roles cut, then restored: 45 customer service roles. (ABC News)
Voice bot live: June 2025, on the bank's inbound customer enquiries line, per the union. (iTnews)
Open frontline roles in retail banking: about 220, per CBA in July. (iTnews)
Bank's 2025 cash profit: a record A$10.25 billion. (ABC News)
Cost of the voice bot, and call volumes since launch: not disclosed by CBA.

What CBA launched

The Finance Sector Union (FSU) said the "new voice bot system on the bank's inbound customer enquiries line" went live in June 2025, iTnews's Ry Crozier reported. iTnews understood the system screens callers by identifying their questions and passing them to a specialist where needed.

A CBA spokesperson said the technology "is making it easier and faster for customers to get help, especially in our call centres," and added: "By automating simple queries, our teams can focus on more complex customer queries that need empathy and experience."

The cuts

The union linked the bot to a potential cut of "45 roles in direct banking." A CBA spokesperson confirmed that, because of its investments in technology including AI, "some roles and work can change." The bank said it would "explore opportunities for redeployment" and pointed to about 220 open frontline roles in retail banking. The FSU took the dispute to the Fair Work Commission, Australia's workplace tribunal.

The reversal

On Aug. 21, ABC News's Stephanie Chalmers reported that CBA had backtracked and apologised to the 45 employees. The bank found the roles were not redundant. It admitted it "did not adequately consider all relevant business considerations" and said "we should have been more thorough in our assessment of the roles required."

Staff were offered three choices: stay in their roles, seek redeployment within the bank, or leave. "We are also reviewing our internal processes to improve our approach going forward," a bank spokesperson said.

The union's account

The FSU called the reversal a "major win." It said members found work rose after the bot arrived: "Call volumes were rising, with management scrambling to offer overtime and even pulling team leaders onto the phones."

"CBA has been caught out trying to dress up job cuts as innovation," FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano said. "Using AI as a cover for slashing secure jobs is a cynical cost-cutting exercise, and workers know it."

CBA hasn't published call-volume figures, so the union's account can't yet be checked against the bank's numbers.

What the CEO said

Comyn told ABC News it was hard to predict AI's long-term impact on jobs: "It's true of any technology that some tasks may be automated." He pointed to about 2,000 extra staff hired in recent months, and acknowledged many of those roles were in India, where the bank was expanding its technology team.

What went wrong

The cuts came before the evidence. CBA cut roles tied to the bot, then said it hadn't considered all relevant business factors.
The workload didn't fall, by the union's account. It says overtime rose and team leaders took calls.
Staff paid first. The 45 employees had already been told their roles were going.
What we don't know yet: call volumes and wait times since June, how many callers the bot resolves without a person, and what the bot cost.

Our follow-up question for CBA

What share of calls does the voice bot resolve without a person, and how have call volumes changed since June?

Sources

Ry Crozier, iTnews, “CBA AI 'voice bot' deployment linked to review of 45 roles,” Jul. 29, 2025. itnews.com.au
Stephanie Chalmers, ABC News, “Commonwealth Bank backtracks on AI job cuts, apologises for 'error' as call volumes rise,” Aug. 21, 2025. abc.net.au

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder