Commonwealth Bank is making another round of workforce changes, cutting 119 jobs as it continues to reshape parts of the business around technology, efficiency and changing operational needs. The move comes only a couple of months after the bank cut about 300 roles in February, adding to concerns that Australia’s banking sector is entering a tougher phase of restructuring as automation and artificial intelligence begin to influence how work is assigned, delivered and managed.
While the latest reduction is relatively small compared with the bank’s total workforce, the timing matters. Back-to-back cuts inside one of the country’s biggest employers are likely to intensify debate over whether banks are quietly accelerating staff changes under the banner of simplification, digital transformation and productivity improvement. Commonwealth Bank says that is not the full picture, arguing that some roles are winding down because certain programs have finished, some work has become more streamlined, and new skill requirements are emerging across the group.
That explanation reflects a larger shift taking place across financial services. Banks are not only investing in AI tools and automation platforms, they are also redesigning teams around those investments. In practical terms, that can mean fewer roles in traditional functions and more demand for staff with digital, data and specialist technology capabilities.
Why Commonwealth Bank is cutting jobs again
According to the bank, the 119 roles being removed are linked to changes in the way work is organised rather than a single one-off event. Some internal projects have reached the end of their cycle. Other tasks are being simplified. In some divisions, the bank says the mix of roles needed today is no longer the same as it was a year ago.
Commonwealth Bank has also pointed to the scale of its operations to argue that workforce movement is ongoing and not unusual. The lender says it employs around 49,000 people nationally and that headcount rose by roughly 2,500 over the last financial year. From the bank’s perspective, hiring, internal movement and targeted reductions can all happen at the same time in a business of that size.
Still, that defence is unlikely to fully calm workers who have now seen two rounds of cuts in a short period. When layoffs are announced repeatedly, employees tend to judge the trend rather than the headline number in isolation. For many staff, the issue is not just whether the bank is still hiring in some areas, but whether their own role or team remains secure as the organisation changes direction.
About one-third of the latest cuts are expected to affect Bankwest, which has already been through a major transition after shifting to an online-only model in 2024. That earlier decision triggered a wave of branch closures and signalled how serious the bank was about reducing its reliance on older physical banking formats. The latest job losses suggest that process is still flowing through the workforce.
AI concerns are now becoming more direct
The pressure around these job cuts is growing because they are landing at a time when Commonwealth Bank has already acknowledged that artificial intelligence will bring significant workforce change. The bank rolled out a program in February aimed at helping employees prepare for the likely effects of AI on jobs, and that context gives the latest cuts a deeper meaning.
The Finance Sector Union says staff anxiety is already high. The union has argued that workers are still dealing with the impact of the earlier 300 job cuts and are now being asked to absorb another round before confidence has had a chance to recover. It also said six of the latest affected roles were linked to automation, a detail that adds fuel to the wider discussion about whether AI is beginning to replace specific banking tasks.
That number alone does not tell the whole story, but it is symbolically important. Once automation is cited as a direct factor in role reductions, employees are likely to view every future restructure through that lens. Concerns become even sharper when workers believe that some functions could eventually be shifted offshore or handled by technology rather than local teams.
The union says a recent survey found 72% of Commonwealth Bank employees were worried about job security due to AI and the possibility that Australian jobs may be replaced by roles overseas. Those findings underline how workforce transformation is no longer an abstract idea inside banking. It is now something employees are actively factoring into their career decisions.
For a wider view of how technological change is affecting jobs across advanced economies, the OECD Employment Outlook has repeatedly highlighted the pressure automation can place on role design, reskilling and long-term employment patterns.
Support measures may matter as much as the cuts
Commonwealth Bank says it is trying to strengthen support for employees affected by change. As part of the program announced earlier this year, the bank has offered a voluntary four-week career transition initiative and a dedicated hub where staff can look for internal vacancies. That suggests the bank understands the issue is not only about reducing roles, but also about how workers are moved into the next stage of employment.
Whether that support is enough will depend on results rather than intention. If staff who lose roles can move into other jobs within the group, the bank may be able to argue that it is managing disruption responsibly. If workers continue to face repeated uncertainty with limited redeployment, criticism is likely to grow.
The bigger industry backdrop also matters. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank recently said it wanted to reduce costs by about $70 million while announcing two technology partnerships, although it did not specify how many jobs could be affected. That points to a broader pattern: lenders are under pressure to modernise, contain costs and justify technology spending, and staff structures are increasingly part of that equation.
We looked at a similar trend in our banking sector workforce transition analysis, where digital investment and cost discipline are increasingly moving together rather than separately.
Commonwealth Bank’s latest cuts may be modest in isolation, but they carry weight because they arrive in sequence, touch a workforce already worried about AI, and reinforce a message that the shape of banking jobs is changing fast. The real issue now is not whether banks will keep restructuring. It is how far they go, how openly they explain it, and how well they help employees adjust as the industry moves deeper into a technology-led future.
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