Reported on Wednesday (10 September), NAB has made 410 job cuts across its technology and enterprise operations division, marking the second major bank this week to swing the axe on jobs. The lender said 728 workers would be affected, with 127 roles to be relocated to India and Vietnam.
The move follows ANZ’s decision this week to shed 3,500 roles, underscoring the growing shift by the majors towards automation and offshore operations to protect margins.
Additionally, in August, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) briefly moved to cut 45 customer service roles tied to the rollout of an AI voice bot, but later reversed the decision, offering affected employees redeployment or retention options.
AMP chief economist Shane Oliver said the banking sector was entering another cycle of cost-cutting, a recurring theme that, while not unusual, remains deeply unsettling for affected staff.
“Tough as it may sound, news of cost control is usually seen as positive by investors and this has been reflected in share prices since the announcements,” Oliver told InvestorDaily.
While advances in technology and AI have raised concerns about job losses across industries, Oliver said banks have not confirmed whether the latest cuts are tied to broader digital strategies.
“From what I have seen, the banks have not confirmed whether it’s playing a role or not,” he said. “But I would suspect that it’s been a part of it, just as technological advances in the past have enabled cost savings, for example, ATMs and direct electronic banking [reducing] the role of bank tellers.”
CBA, which raked in a mammoth $10.13 billion statutory profit in FY2024–25, used its results to unveil a multi-year partnership with OpenAI as part of its aggressive AI investment strategy.
Earlier this year it was also reported that Westpac intends to cut some 1,500 jobs, with the Finance Sector Union (FSU) alleging that the big four bank has already cut some 1,000 over the past year.
NAB and ANZ, meanwhile, have also drawn the ire of the FSU, which claimed the latest round of job cuts proved the big banks were moving in lockstep against workers.
According to the union, it aims to fight NAB’s cuts as “fiercely as it is fighting ANZ and CBA”, demanding local job security and accountability from the banks.
Wendy Streets, FSU’s national president, labelled the cuts from ANZ and NAB as “shameful”.
“This isn’t one rogue bank, it’s the whole sector driving the same agenda at the expense of workers and communities.
“It is a betrayal of 728 workers and their families. Profits in their billions, jobs in the bin, banks are showing open contempt for their own people. Cuts this deep don’t just hurt staff, they hollow out services for customers and communities who rely on NAB,” Streets said.
The job cuts come despite the major banks raking in billions in profit.
Earlier this year, KPMG reported that the combined net profit after tax of the big four lenders in the first half of 2025 reached $15.5 billion – increasing by a cumulative 3.5 per cent on the year and 4.3 per cent on the second half of FY23–24.
Cumulative operating income rose 4.3 per cent on the year, reaching $46.3 billion, while total net interest income climbed 4.8 per cent to $38.6 billion.
But at the same time, costs across the sector have continued to rise.
According to KPMG, total operating expenses reached $22.7 billion, up 6.2 per cent on 1H24 and 2.9 per cent on 2H24, largely due to personnel and technology, while investment spend increased significantly by 11.8 per cent compared with 1H24 but fell 8.9 per cent compared to 2H24, reflecting seasonal shifts.
Technology outlays alone grew 10.7 per cent over the first half of 2024, highlighting the scale of digital transformation driving both efficiency and disruption across the banking sector.
Interestingly, the job cuts also coincide with fresh leadership at the major banks, with ANZ’s Nuno Matos, Westpac’s Anthony Miller, and NAB’s Andrew Irvine all under pressure to demonstrate decisive action to the market.
Major ASX-listed banks were trading higher by close of day, with NAB up 1.54 per cent to $43.444, ANZ 1.79 per cent to $33.47, CBA 1.71 per cent to $168.92, and Westpac 1.73 per cent to $38.30, as investors continued to focus on underlying profitability despite ongoing cost-cutting.
