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Now that's an embarassing U-turn - bank forced to rehire human workers after
their AI replacement fails to perform

Date:
Fri, 22 Aug 2025 16:03:00 +0000

Description:
Automating mundane tasks is harder than it looks, CommBank admits.

FULL STORY

Australias Commonwealth Bank has provided a useful example of how not to
introduce AI tools after being forced into an embarassing clim-down. 

The bank had recently announced 45 customer service workers would be cut and
replaced with an AI-powered 'voice bot' in an effort to reduce call volumes
and automate less complex replies - leaving a small number of employees to
handle the remaining more complex enquiries. 

As it turns out, these bots were not capable of handling the tasks that the
workers could - and now, those cut employees will now be rehired.

The backflip

The bank claimed the voice-bot led to a reduction in calls, but Australia's
Finance Sector Union disputes this claim, noting, Members told us this was an
outright lie and did not reflect the reality of what was happening in Direct
Banking. Call volumes were in fact increasing and CBA was scrambling to 
manage the situation by offering staff overtime and directing Team Leaders to
answer calls." 

The bank issued an apology to the staff who were affected by the proposed job
cuts and reversed the decision. A spokesperson from the bank told TechRadar
Pro that it's initial assessment 'did not adequately consider all relevant
business considerations and this error meant the roles were not redundant.' 

"We have apologised to the employees concerned and acknowledge we should have
been more thorough in our assessment of the roles required. We are currently
supporting affected employees and have provided them with choice regarding
continuing in their current roles, pursuing redeployment within CBA or to
proceed with leaving the organisation." 

That being said, CommBank is not denouncing the tech entirely, having 
recently announced a partnership with OpenAI to develop scam and fraud
detection solutions, as well as deliver more personalized services for its
customers. 

For months, concerns about job losses at the hands of AI were dismissed, with
companies assuring that only the most basic and mundane admin tasks would be
handled by bots, leaving workers to focus on the more creative aspects of
their roles. 

Those in administrative positions who handle almost exclusively mundane tasks
have warned that these models, although sometimes useful, cannot replace 
human experience and understanding. 

Its undeniable that AI is replacing workers, with hundreds of jobs at firms
like IBM and Crowdstrike disappearing as humans have been made more
dispensable thanks to the tech. 

But, not all of these cost-cutting decisions are working out. In the UK, over
half of all businesses who replaced workers with AI already regret their
decision , and are not less likely to believe that AI will replace human
workers.

======================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/now-thats-an-embarassing-u-turn-bank-forced-to-r
ehire-human-workers-after-their-ai-replacement-fail-to-perform

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