Australia’s job market is feeling the tremors of a global tech layoff wave, as the Commonwealth Bank (CBA)—the nation’s largest lender—faces mounting criticism for shifting hundreds of jobs offshore to India. This move, which comes amid a broader climate of cost-cutting and restructuring across the technology sector, has ignited fierce debate about the future of work, national economic priorities, and the real cost of innovation.
In July 2025, the Commonwealth Bank informed the Finance Sector Union (FSU) that 304 Australian workers in technology and retail roles would be made redundant. According to reporting from Daily Mail Australia, this announcement coincided with the creation of 110 new positions at CBA’s Bangalore-based subsidiary, CBA India. The roles—ranging from staff data engineers to engineering managers—were nearly identical to those being eliminated in Australia.
This wasn’t an isolated incident. The CBA’s annual report revealed that the bank’s staff numbers in India had more than doubled in just two years, swelling from 2,854 employees in June 2022 to 5,630 by June 2024. The union’s national secretary, Julia Angrisano, did not mince words: “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 told Daily Mail Australia. “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.”
Angrisano’s frustration is echoed by many Australians who see the offshoring of jobs as a betrayal—especially when the bank continues to post strong profits and reward its executives handsomely. In 2024, CBA’s CEO Matt Comyn received a pay package of $8.977 million, including bonuses, according to the bank’s disclosures.
The union’s case centers on the argument that these redundancies were not “genuine,” as the bank claimed, but rather a calculated move to exploit cheaper labor markets abroad. “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,” Angrisano said. “Our members are outraged by this kind of behaviour and seriously question CBA’s commitment to Australian jobs.”
For its part, the Commonwealth Bank has pushed back against these allegations. A spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia, “During the formal consultation on recent workforce changes, the FSU did not raise any concerns with us about like-for-like job changes. 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.” The bank maintains that CBA India was insourcing roles previously performed by third parties, not simply shifting jobs overseas for cost reasons.
But the optics are hard to ignore. Specialist recruiter and career coach Tammie Ballis questioned the bank’s rationale, pointing out Australia’s diversity and talent pool: “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? 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.”
The controversy has spilled into the political arena. On August 14, 2025, Senator Gerard Rennick of the Liberal National Party of Queensland pressed the Treasury during Question Time about the extent of wages being sent offshore. The Treasury was unable to provide an immediate answer, promising to follow up. Rennick’s concerns went further, highlighting what he sees as a double loss: “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.”
Rennick also noted that foreign workers are being brought into Australia for major projects, such as building transmission lines, raising questions about remittance flows and the broader impact of globalization on the local workforce. “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 warned.
The public’s response has been fierce and emotional. One Australian commented, “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.” Another lamented, “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 because they wouldn’t care if I dropped dead over my desk.” A former Telstra employee offered a cautionary tale: “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.”
This uproar comes as the tech industry globally is experiencing a brutal reckoning. According to independent tracker Layoffs.fyi, more than 22,000 tech workers have lost their jobs in 2025 alone, with February and July seeing particularly high numbers—16,084 and 16,142 layoffs, respectively. April 2025 was even worse, with over 24,500 layoffs across the sector. Major names like Microsoft, Intel, Atlassian, Rivian, and Bumble have all announced significant cuts, often citing the need to restructure in the face of rapid advances in artificial intelligence and automation.
Microsoft, for example, announced plans to cut 9,000 employees in 2025, less than 4% of its global workforce, while Intel revealed plans for nearly 2,400 layoffs in Oregon and a 15-20% reduction in its Intel Foundry division. The rationale is consistent: companies are “embracing AI and automation,” as reported by TechCrunch, and restructuring to focus on innovation and profitability. The human toll, however, is undeniable.
In Australia, the intersection of these global trends and local decisions is hitting home. The Commonwealth Bank’s offshoring strategy, set against a backdrop of widespread tech layoffs and economic uncertainty, has become a lightning rod for broader anxieties about the future of work. As companies chase efficiency and innovation, the question remains: at what cost to the communities and workers that helped build them?
With political scrutiny intensifying and public sentiment running high, the fate of Australian tech jobs—and the broader social contract between corporations and their home countries—hangs in the balance.
