# Commonwealth Bank reverses 45 job cuts it attributed to an AI voice bot

Source: https://www.bankingnewsai.com/ai-incidents/commonwealth-bank-ai-voice-bot-job-cuts-reversed
Last updated: Oct 21, 2026

Commonwealth Bank of Australia · Institution's own AI · severity 2 of 5

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) told ABC News in July 2025 that it was cutting 45 call-centre roles after introducing an AI-powered voice bot for customer inquiries. The Finance Sector Union disputed the cuts at the Fair Work Commission, saying call volumes had risen rather than fallen after the bot launched. On 21 August 2025 CBA reversed the decision, called it an "error" and apologised to the affected staff; per ABC News, the bank said it "did not adequately consider all relevant business considerations". The 45 employees were offered the choice of keeping their roles, redeployment or leaving the bank. At the bank's October 2025 AGM, chair Paul O'Malley said: "We made a mistake."

## Key facts

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Date | Jul 29, 2025 |
| Institution | Commonwealth Bank of Australia |
| Country | Australia |
| AI system | AI-powered voice bot answering call-centre customer inquiries |
| AI? | Described as AI by the institution or regulator — The institution, a regulator or a court called the system AI. |
| Category | AI job-cut reversal (Institution's own AI) |
| Status | Resolved |
| Severity | 2 of 5 — A policy reversal with limited harm: 45 employees were told their roles were redundant before the bank withdrew the cuts; no customer harm, loss or regulatory action has been reported. |

## What happened?

On 29 July 2025 CBA confirmed to ABC News that it had axed 45 jobs in its customer call centres after rolling out an AI chatbot to handle customer inquiries. A CBA spokesperson said the bank reviews "the skills we need and how we're organised to deliver the best customer experiences" and that its priority was redeployment. The bank had briefed the Finance Sector Union (FSU) the week before, which ABC News reported was the first time a bank had told the union its job cuts were due to AI. [1][5]

The FSU said its members' experience contradicted the bank's case: call volumes in Direct Banking were rising, and CBA was offering staff overtime and directing team leaders to answer calls. According to Bloomberg, the bank had said the voice bot reduced call volumes by 2,000 a week. The union took CBA to the Fair Work Commission, saying the bank would not be transparent about call volumes. [3][4]

On 21 August 2025 CBA reversed the cuts. It told ABC News the roles were not redundant despite the voice bot, described the decision as an "error", apologised to the 45 employees, and said it "should have been more thorough in our assessment of the roles required". Staff were given the choice of continuing in their roles, redeployment within the bank, or leaving CBA; the FSU said a payment to exit would still be offered to those who chose it. [2][4][8]

At CBA's annual general meeting in Brisbane on 15 October 2025, one of the 45 affected employees asked the board what safeguards now protected staff from AI and offshoring, noting that not all the jobs offered back were the same as those cut. Chair Paul O'Malley replied: "We made a mistake. We didn't adequately consider all the relevant business considerations." Chief executive Matt Comyn said the bank had "incorrectly estimated the demand for those roles going forward". The employee had declined the role she was offered, news.com.au reported. [6][7]

## Timeline

- Jun 2025 — CBA introduces a voice bot on its inbound customer enquiries line, according to the Finance Sector Union. [5]
- Jul 29, 2025 — CBA confirms to ABC News and Reuters that 45 call-centre roles are being cut after it rolled out an AI voice bot for customer inquiries. [1][5]
- Aug 2025 — The Finance Sector Union takes a dispute over the cuts and call volumes to the Fair Work Commission. [3][4]
- Aug 21, 2025 — CBA reverses the 45 redundancies, calls the decision an "error" and apologises to the affected employees. [2][3][4]
- Oct 15, 2025 — At CBA's AGM, chair Paul O'Malley tells an affected employee "We made a mistake"; CEO Matt Comyn says the bank incorrectly estimated demand for the roles. [6][7]

## What was the impact?

- Customers: No customer harm reported
- Other: 45 customer-service employees in CBA's Direct Banking call centres were told their roles were redundant before the decision was reversed. [2][4]

## How did Commonwealth Bank of Australia respond?

CBA said the 45 roles were not redundant, called the cuts an "error" and apologised to the affected employees. It acknowledged it "did not adequately consider all relevant business considerations" and said: "We are also reviewing our internal processes to improve our approach going forward." At the October 2025 AGM chair Paul O'Malley said "We made a mistake" and that "future processes are baked in such that the risk of that happening again is very much mitigated". [2][7]

## What was the outcome?

The redundancies were rescinded and staff could stay, be redeployed or leave with an exit payment. No regulator action has been reported as of 21 October 2026. The FSU called the reversal a win but kept its wider Fair Work dispute with CBA over offshoring, automation and AI open, with a further hearing scheduled for late August 2025. [2][4][8]

## FAQ

### Why did Commonwealth Bank reverse its AI job cuts?

CBA said in August 2025 that the 45 call-centre roles were not redundant after all: it had not adequately considered all relevant business considerations, and the Finance Sector Union said call volumes had risen after the AI voice bot launched.

### What happened to the 45 Commonwealth Bank employees?

They were offered the choice of staying in their roles, redeployment within CBA, or leaving the bank with an exit payment, and the bank apologised to them, according to ABC News and the Finance Sector Union.

### Did Commonwealth Bank admit the AI job cuts were a mistake?

Yes. In August 2025 a CBA spokesperson called the decision an "error" and apologised, and at the bank's AGM on 15 October 2025 chair Paul O'Malley told an affected employee "We made a mistake", while CEO Matt Comyn said the bank had incorrectly estimated demand for the roles.

### Did a regulator act over the Commonwealth Bank AI voice bot job cuts?

No regulator action has been reported as of October 2026. The dispute was handled through the Fair Work Commission, where the Finance Sector Union challenged the cuts; CBA reversed them before any ruling, and no customer harm or financial loss was reported.

## Sources

1. [Commonwealth Bank replaces dozens of call centre jobs with AI chatbot](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-29/commonwealth-bank-says-ai-behind-dozens-of-job-cuts/105586312) — ABC News, Jul 29, 2025 (news): "One of Australia's largest employers has axed 45 jobs in its customer call centres after rolling out an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot to deal with customer inquiries."
2. [Commonwealth Bank backtracks on AI job cuts, apologises for 'error' as call volumes rise](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-21/cba-backtracks-on-ai-job-cuts-as-chatbot-lifts-call-volumes/105679492) — ABC News, Aug 21, 2025 (news): "CBA admitted it "did not adequately consider all relevant business considerations" when announcing the redundancies and acknowledged "we should have been more thorough in our assessment of the roles required"."
3. [Australia's Biggest Bank Reverses Plan to Replace Jobs With AI](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-21/commonwealth-bank-reverses-job-cuts-decision-over-ai-chatbots) — Bloomberg, Aug 21, 2025 (news): "The nation's largest lender had said that the voice bot reduced call volumes by 2,000 a week, when union members said volumes were in fact rising and CBA had to offer staff overtime and direct team leaders to answer calls, the union said."
4. [WIN: CBA backflips on customer service job cuts, admits they got it wrong](https://www.fsunion.org.au/Hub/Content/News_and_publications/Member_updates/2025/WIN-CBA-backflips-on-customer-service-job-cuts.aspx) — Finance Sector Union, Aug 21, 2025 (news): "Call volumes were in fact increasing and CBA was scrambling to manage the situation by offering staff overtime and directing Team Leaders to answer calls."
5. [Australian lender CBA to cut 45 jobs in AI shift, draws union backlash](https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/australian-lender-cba-cut-45-jobs-ai-shift-draws-union-backlash-2025-07-29/) — Reuters, Jul 29, 2025 (news): "Commonwealth Bank of Australia confirmed on Tuesday it is cutting 45 jobs as part of a shift toward using artificial intelligence to handle certain tasks, prompting a union to accuse the bank of excluding workers from the evolving economy."
6. [Bank admits 'mistake' over worker who lost job to AI](https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/9089360/bank-admits-mistake-over-worker-who-lost-job-to-ai/) — Australian Associated Press (via Illawarra Mercury), Oct 15, 2025 (news): ""We didn't adequately consider all the relevant business considerations. And I think that's been communicated.""
7. ['Made a mistake': Former CBA worker confronts banking bosses over AI redundancies](https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/banking/made-a-mistake-former-cba-worker-confronts-banking-bosses-over-ai-redundancies/news-story/89d65add69b4a10cb8e2b9abd175e125) — news.com.au, Oct 16, 2025 (news): ""In this particular instance when we did that assessment we incorrectly estimated the demand for those roles going forward," he said."
8. [CommBank reverses plan to replace call centre staff with AI](https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/46482/commbank-reverses-plan-to-replace-call-centre-staff-with-ai) — Finextra, Aug 22, 2025 (news)

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