Banks Accelerate AI Adoption as WhiteCollar Jobs Vanish

Major Australian banks are rapidly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline operations, leading to significant job cuts in the white-collar sector. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), ANZ, and Telstra are among the companies that have announced thousands of job reductions, coinciding with increased AI integration.

Two months ago, CBA announced plans to replace 45 customer service workers with an AI chatbot, though the decision was later reversed. However, the trend of AI adoption and job cuts continues across the financial services industry. Dhanushi Jayatileka, a former CBA back-office worker, claims her redundancy is linked to the bank's growing reliance on AI, a claim the bank denies.

“We are teaching the machine to eventually take our job,” says Jayatileka, who is supported by the Finance Sector Union. “We need to look after people first.”

A CBA spokesperson states that Jayatileka’s redundancy was due to separate reasons and not related to AI. However, experts warn that the connection between AI adoption and job losses is becoming increasingly apparent, even if it is not officially acknowledged.

Industry Trends and Expert Insights

Manju Ahuja, a professor of information systems and technology management at the University of New South Wales, notes an observable link between workforce changes and the uptake of AI tools. “It is the tip of the iceberg [because] many AI-related job losses are just not officially recorded,” she says.

According to a study by the University of Queensland (UQ), sales, customer service, and entry-level white-collar jobs are particularly vulnerable to automation. Evan Shellshear, an adjunct professor and co-author of the UQ study, explains, “Where you can standardise it to just one task, that job goes.”

Shellshear also highlights a decline in demand for consulting and accounting graduates and clerks, as senior staff turn to AI to automate traditionally menial tasks assigned to junior colleagues.

Corporate Announcements and AI Integration

CBA has stated that recent redundancies, except for the 45 customer service roles, were not related to the increased use of AI. The bank reports that its total workforce has increased since 2021, with more staff added in non-automated areas. CBA claims that AI has improved efficiencies, with business bank queries answered three times faster, a 33% increase in engineers’ code change output, and a 20% rise in automated customer service interactions, along with reduced call center wait times.

ANZ recently announced it will cut 3,500 of its 40,000-plus employees by September 2026. The company has introduced an AI analysis assistant called amie, which is being used across software engineering, research, and writing. ANZ’s CEO, Nuno Matos, insists, “This decision has absolutely nothing to do with AI or any technology.”

Telstra, a major telecommunications company, has cut 2,800 jobs over the past year and expects to cut another 550 roles in 2025. The company saved $301 million on labor expenses in 2024-2025, and most of its remaining staff are using Microsoft’s AI assistant, Copilot. Senior executives at Telstra have told investors that faster AI adoption will help cut costs and reduce its 30,000-person workforce.

The Bank of Queensland recently cut 200 roles, including in its call center, while partnering with Capgemini to accelerate AI use and manage some queries overseas. Spokespeople for the Bank of Queensland and Telstra maintain that these job cuts are not related to AI investments and that new technology will help staff serve clients more effectively.

Westpac, another major bank, is cutting an estimated 1,500 jobs after offshoring nearly 200 jobs earlier in 2025. Tech company Canva has also sacked 10 of its 12 technical writers, raising questions about the role of AI in these reductions.

References

1. ‘We are teaching the machine to take our job’: Banks bet big on AI as thousands of jobs cut | Business | The Guardian