Third party unscathed amid CBA job cuts 

The CBA attributes this decline to its “Everyday Banking” and “Home Buying Operations”, the CBA told the FSU.

Specifically, the CBA has informed the FSU that it plans to cut 192 jobs from back-office operations in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth, including some employees from Bankwest.

The bank cited “automation initiatives” in retail banking and home lending as a reason for these job losses, claiming that it has enabled “simplified processes”.

However, The Adviser believes that these job losses will not affect the third-party channel.

This announcement coincided with the major bank’s home loan portfolio experiencing a $1.4 billion drop across its mortgage portfolio in July 2023, as reported by APRA statistics.

Furthermore, the bank’s financial year results revealed a slight decline in mortgage broker origination loans.

The FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano expressed concern over the CBA’s decision to cut jobs despite booking a full-year profit of $10.18 billion.

“Workers in the financial services sector should be enormously concerned that Australia’s largest bank is now making workers redundant because of automation,” Ms Angrisano said.

“CBA has a huge problem with staff shortages and excessive workloads and cutting staff does nothing to reduce that concern for workers.”

The CBA, with approximately 50,000 employees, has stated that it has recruited more than 10,000 people since 2021, solidifying its position as one of Australia’s largest employers.

“As part of our focus on constant business improvement, we regularly review the skills we need and how we are organised. That means from time to time some roles and work will change, or no longer be required,” a CBA spokesman said.

CBA will hold its annual shareholder meeting today (11 October).

The statistics came ahead of three of the major banks – Westpac, ANZ and NAB – reporting their full-year results next month.

According to the National Australia Bank (NAB) half-year results to March 2023, it has employed 36,963 staff, a 12 per cent increase since March 2022. However, it’s expected to shed around 222 staff this year, according to the FSU.

Westpac has led the charge with more than 1,080 jobs cut, the FSU data showed, while Westpac’s half-year results showed between March 2023 and March 2022 the organisation had lost 320 employees.

ANZ’s half-year results indicated a reduction of more than 350 full-time equivalent staff in the year to March, with 39,802 staff employed, down from 39,381.

[Related: CBA broker flows drop]