Commonwealth Bank sends jobs to India as it cuts hundreds of workers in Australia – despite record profits

Australia’s biggest bank has sent 100 jobs to India after retrenching hundreds of local staff with a union accusing it of offshoring work for cheaper labour.

The Commonwealth Bank last month told the Finance Sector Union that 304 Australians would be made redundant in technology and retail roles.

This occurred as 110 jobs, affected by redundancies in Australia, were created at the Commonwealth Bank’s Bangalore-based subsidiary, CBA India.

These new jobs in India included job titles that had existed in Australia including staff data engineer, senior software engineers, staff software engineer, engineering manager, software engineer and senior data engineer.

The Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s biggest home lender, has more than doubled the number of staff in India in just two years. 

The Finance Sector Union’s national secretary Julia Angrisano said the Commonwealth Bank had breached faith with its own staff by saying positions were redundant in Australia only to recreate them in India.

‘By hiring for the same job, at their own Indian subsidiary, they’re showing themselves to have breached the enterprise agreement and essentially lied to their workers,’ she said.

‘This is a shameful act from Australia’s richest company.

‘This is the very definition of bad faith. We have known for years that big banks have had a preference for work to be performed offshore.

‘Yet we now have the proof that this is happening in real time. 

‘Our members are outraged by this kind of behaviour and seriously question CBA’s commitment to Australian jobs.’

The Commonwealth Bank’s number of staff in India more than doubled in two years, growing from 2,854 employees in June 2022 to 5,630 by June 2024, its last annual report revealed.

This occurred as the number of staff in Australia fell from 38,153 to 36,572, with many retrenchments related to bank branch closures in big cities. 

Ms Angrisano argued this was about CBA benefiting from cheaper labour in India.

‘We do not believe that the redundancies outlined in these change processes are in fact genuine redundancies and that in doing so, CBA has breached the terms of the agreement,’ she said.

‘These jobs are not required to be done in India; they’re just moving the work there to take advantage of cheaper labour and further line their own pockets.’

But a Commonwealth Bank spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia that CBA India was insourcing roles that had previously been done by a third party.

‘During the formal consultation on recent workforce changes, the FSU did not raise any concerns with us about like-for-like job changes,’ she said.

‘We refute their claims and have met with the union this week to respond in detail and assure them that there is no basis to their allegations.

‘We have been transparent in communicating workforce shifts with our technology team over the last three years. 

‘This includes being explicit about roles which are declining and offering reskilling and upskilling opportunities to people in those roles.’

The latest hiring spree in India came to light as Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn – who last year earned $8.977million with bonuses – would be participating in the federal government’s Economic Reform Roundtable in August.

Chalmers said Mr Comyn ‘brings extensive experience in digital adoption’.

The Commonwealth Bank made a half-year cash profit of $5.134billion in the six months to December, which followed a $9.836million full-year profit in 2023-24.

The Commonwealth Bank’s share price in late June hit an all-time high of $191.40 after it announced the retrenchments in Australia, with shareholders rejoicing at reduced costs. 

Specialist recruiter and career coach Tammie Ballis took aim at the Big Four bank for sending roles offshore. 

‘Are you telling me, Australia being the multicultural country that we are that they can’t find someone that’s living here that is bilingual with those skills?,’ Ms Ballis said.

‘Come on, not only that, if you have a look down here, this is their acknowledgement to country. Paying respect to our First Nations Australians. You’re not for Australians.’

During a recent Budget estimates, former Queensland senator Gerard Rennick asked Treasury officials about whether the government was aware of how much money was being sent offshore in wages.

‘It’s not hard to see why Treasury took my question about the Free Trade Agreements with the Philippines and India on notice,’ he said.

‘It turns out that the Australian Government charges no taxes on wages paid by Australian companies to foreign workers in other countries who are effectively working remotely, taking Australian jobs.

‘Not only are we losing jobs, we are losing the tax that those jobs would have paid while Australian corporations still get a tax deduction despite sending money offshore.

‘This then means the remaining Australian workers have to pay higher taxes to make up the shortfall. This is selling Australia out plain and simple.’

‘This is selling Australia out plain and simple. Furthermore, for those of you who think that working at home is a good thing be careful what you wish for.

‘You might be replaced by a foreign worker.’

He also pointed out that some workers are being brought in from other countries.

‘For example, I’ve been told that there are people coming from the Philippines to build the transmission lines between Wagga and South Australia.

‘Do we know how much money in remittances is getting sent offshore in terms of wages paid either for outsourcing or people coming onshore?

Aussies unleashed about the increasing globalisation of the workforce.

One said: ‘Govt should make it illegal for big banks, those above a certain threshold/size, to offshore IT and call centre jobs, especially given their huge billion $ profits’.

A second added: ‘At the end of the day these companies are greedy af and don’t care about the average Australian. It’s why I will always choose family over work every chance I get bc they wouldn’t care if I dropped dead over my desk.’

A third said: ‘I worked for Telstra and my job went to Philippines where wages were 1/4 of Australian.

‘Lead to seven extra calls per complaint resolution and time factor extended from four days to 14 days.’