CBA swings the axe on staff; job cuts across the board
Commonwealth Bank is following in the footsteps of its peers, setting the wheels in motion for a sizeable round of staff cuts.
CBA boss Matt Comyn. Brent Lewin
It is understood CBA’s trimming headcount across the board as it prepares for the new financial year. The cuts are concentrated in its retail bank and technology unit, sources said.
At least 100 staffers are understood to have lost their jobs.
CBA employs more than 53,000 people, which cost the bank $3.5 billion in staff related expenses in the December half.
“As part of our focus on business improvement, we regularly review the skills we need and how we are organised. That means from time to time some roles and work can change or may no longer be required,” a spokesperson for CBA told Street Talk on Wednesday.
“Where a role isn’t required in its current form we work closely with our people to redeploy them into appropriate comparable roles suitable to their needs. These decisions are never easy nor are taken lightly. Our priority is to treat every individual with respect and care, taking time to talk with each employee impacted to understand individual circumstances and work with them on finding opportunities and building skills to support them for another role in or outside the bank.”
It comes after Westpac laid off 300 staff and 400 contractors in June, amid its boss Peter King’s ambitious cost reduction program. Westpac last year said it would trim its 38,000 odd headcount by 20 per cent by 2024.
CBA’s round of job cuts also follow adamning report last month from Barrenjoey banking analyst Jon Mott who said the COVID-19 mortgage boom may come to haunt the major banks, as loans written when interest rates were at record lows become increasingly expensive to
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