The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) reversed its decision to cut 45 customer service roles after initially planning to replace them with AI-powered voice bots, acknowledging that the roles were not redundant.

This reversal followed revelations that CBA was hiring over 100 software engineers in India to replace Australian workers and testing an AI chatbot called Hey CommBank, which raised fears of widespread job losses.

CBA's initial plan to automate call center jobs was based on flawed assessments, as call volumes increased instead of decreasing, leading to increased workloads and overtime for staff.

Despite setbacks, AI adoption remains in its early stages across industries, with many companies cautiously integrating the technology due to its potential for productivity gains.

The incident highlights the ongoing tension in the financial sector between automation for efficiency and the need to maintain workforce stability, amid broader concerns about AI's impact on jobs.

CBA has been investing heavily in its operations, hiring over 9,000 staff in 2025 and investing more than $2 billion, even as it explores AI integration.

While reversing the job cuts, CBA continues to expand its tech workforce, including hiring around 2,000 staff mainly in India, though this has drawn scrutiny from unions over job security.

In response to rising call volumes, CBA has shifted to offering overtime and involving team leaders in call handling, indicating a change in workforce management strategy.

The Finance Sector Union (FSU) praised the reversal as a major victory for workers, criticizing CBA for using AI as a pretext for cost-cutting and emphasizing the importance of job security and proper training.

The union also accused CBA of misrepresenting automation's effects and called for more transparent processes and protections for employees.

CBA acknowledged that its initial redundancy assessment was flawed, apologized to affected employees, and offered options such as redeployment or leaving, as workloads had increased contrary to earlier claims.

The reversal coincided with discussions at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Economic Reform Roundtable on AI regulation, with unions advocating for stronger worker protections.