CBA sheds hundreds of chat-support roles as AI handles customer queries
Commonwealth Bank of Australia is reducing chat-support headcount while adding some roles in Australian service centres.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia has shed hundreds of chat-support roles as it expands AI handling of customer interactions, according to Yahoo Finance reporting. The change is expected to deliver tens of millions of dollars in annual savings.
The report also says CBA has made some offsetting hires in Australia-based service centres, indicating a shift in the mix of customer-service work rather than a single, uniform reduction.
The move comes as global call-centre employment contracts. Revelio Labs data reported on 11 October shows employment down 5.3% from its December 2023 peak, while Gartner expects some AI-driven customer-service cuts to require rehiring as businesses adjust.
For Australian employers, a technology-led reduction still needs to be managed as a genuine redundancy process: identify the roles that are no longer required, consult affected employees before decisions are finalised, and properly consider reasonable redeployment—including into newly created AI-supervision or service roles. Cost savings alone do not remove those obligations.
- CBA shed hundreds of chat-support roles as AI took on more customer interactions.
- The change is expected to save tens of millions of dollars annually.
- Some offsetting hiring occurred in Australia-based service centres.
- Global call-centre employment was 5.3% below its December 2023 peak, according to Revelio Labs data.
For employers: If AI changes customer-service work, map displaced duties against new roles before finalising redundancies. In Australia, consult before deciding, test genuine redeployment options and document why any remaining role is no longer required.
Sources: After a decade of growth, global call-center employment is shrinking · AI-driven customer service cuts may lead to rehiring, Gartner predicts
General information for employers, not legal advice. Reporting summarised from the linked sources; confirm details with the primary source.