In what has been an embarrassing move for the bank, 45 employees are being rehired after the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) mistakenly announced their roles were made redundant by a chatbot. The incident occurred when the bank tried to justify staff layoffs during the development of a new AI product. Finance Sector Union (FSU) has been at the forefront of this back and forth, after it brought the issue to a Fair Work Tribunal to push for the roles to be reinstated.

Australia’s largest bank is being forced to re-hire staff after falsely claiming the use of a new artificial intelligence system meant the jobs were no longer needed. The bank had originally said call volumes were 2,000 fewer a week as a result of an AI “voice bot”, and this had reduced the need for human agents. As a result, CBA stated the roles in the team were no longer required and began making staff redundant.

The union for the 45 staff involved in the initial layoffs immediately argued that the reduction in agent headcount was not down to AI, but that call volumes had actually increased. In fact, at the time of layoffs being made, senior management were reportedly rushing to fill the positions with overtime for existing staff, and even reassigning managers to answer calls. The union brought the dispute before a tribunal, and CBA was eventually forced to concede that it was the wrong move.

Tribunal documents reveal that CBA was forced to backtrack and admit to making a serious error in judgment. The bank has now offered the 45 staff the choice to be reinstated to their old roles, or another role in the group, as well as the option to receive an exit package. At a tribunal hearing, the bank admitted that it had “failed to take into account sustained increases in call volumes which occurred at the same time as the redundancies”.

The row over the layoff and redundancies started after the bank announced that it would no longer need as many staff as it had previously. “The role was made redundant when, on 14 March 2023, CBA outsourced part of its customer contact centre and closed its customer contact centre in Wangaratta,” the company stated in tribunal documents. “This resulted in a 1,800 call reduction per week.” CBA is one of the Australian banks that has expressed the most interest in using AI. It recently signed a deal with OpenAI last week to improve services for its customers.

Workers have sounded the alarm on automation for some time. AI has improved efficiency at Australia’s four major banks, but unions have put pressure on the Commonwealth Bank in particular. Some experts believe the bank’s AI program has cost lives, and a push to add more automation to lending services has been met with fierce resistance. “We know from experience that CBAs’ use of digital technology has already cost lives,” the union said.

FSU has welcomed the CBA concession and the potential of 45 workers to be rehired, but the damage had been done by then, according to the union. Workers have already endured weeks of uncertainty about their job security, not knowing if they would be able to pay their bills. The union claims the event is a “massive win” for members, but said that they “don’t think you can turn back the clock after an event like this”. The broader question about automation is being taken up by the FSU.

The union has now filed another action with the Fair Work Commission over its broader use of artificial intelligence. This case centers on the bank’s obligations to consult with workers over the change, and how it uses AIs. Last week, the bank stated that the deal to build new generative AI capabilities was intended to make things better for staff. A CBA spokesperson said that its partnership with OpenAI was intended to benefit customers and staff by “embedding the responsible use of AI as a core part of how we operate”. The tribunal is set to be heard next month.