CBA set to cut 170 IT workers

The Commonwealth Bank is proposing cuts of 170 IT staff under a restructure of its enterprise services business unit.

The cuts are set to be made across eight IT domains and affect workers in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

The IT domains include group enterprise services, architecture and analytics, IT delivery and availability, group operations (GO) and the data protection group.

The CBA has spent the past week consulting with impacted workers and union officials. Consultations are expected to conclude by the middle of this week.

The cuts are believed to be the result of ongoing digitisation and automation efforts within the bank.

“In an increasingly competitive and technology driven industry we need to ensure we have the right skills and capabilities for the future, both those we need more of and those we need less of,” a CBA spokesperson told iTnews.

“We are in consultation on a proposal to make a number of roles redundant in our enterprise services team.

“The changes reflect the number and types of roles required following technology advancements and to support our customers' needs and the ES operating model.

“We will support affected employees throughout the entire process and offer training and workshops to help them either find a new role within CBA or with another company.”  

The spokesperson said that none of the affected jobs are “being offshored”.

The enterprise services business unit is “responsible for the world-leading application of technology and operations across every aspect of CommBank - from innovative product platforms for our customers, to essential tools within our business”, CBA said.

“We also use technology to drive efficient and timely processing, an essential component of great customer service,” the bank said, noting enterprise services is “recognised as leading the industry in IT and operations”.

The restructure of enterprise services comes on the back of an upheaval in the bank’s cybersecurity division.

A review of the cybersecurity operations by new CISO Yuval Illuz saw a “handful” of senior cybersecurity executives leave.

It will result in some of CBA's current onshore cybersecurity service providers being forced to compete with offshorers to keep the business in future, in a bid to rein in the bank’s large cybersecurity spend.

Back in June, CBA also cut 150 “back-office” staff in Brisbane who processed home loan applications.