Dr Angel Zhong, Associate Professor of Finance
"While it's convenient to blame AI for these job cuts, it's largely a scapegoat for deeper, long-standing structural issues. The core drivers are intense margin compression from competition and a strategic pivot away from costly physical branches towards digital-first services. This isn't about replacing people with robots; it's about banks finally addressing inefficiencies they should have tackled years ago to survive in a new competitive landscape.
"Banks are racing to service digital natives, but in doing so, they risk leaving behind older Australians and regional communities caught in the digital divide. A national audit shows half of our remote Aboriginal communities still lack mobile coverage, making a mandatory digital-first approach dangerous and exclusionary. A truly modern bank must invest in both cutting-edge AI and robust, accessible support systems for all customers.
"AI is not the job-destroying villain in this story. Its current role is to augment human workers, not replace them en masse. We're seeing AI deployed to eliminate tedious, repetitive tasks like data parsing and initial risk assessments. This shifts the human role from data cruncher to strategic advisor, focusing on complex problem-solving, regulatory interpretation, and managing client relationships, which are skills that AI cannot replicate.
"The entry-level banking job is evolving. The future won't require armies of junior analysts to compile reports. Instead, we'll need a smaller number of highly skilled professionals who can act as AI-savvy data checkers, strategic thinkers, and ethical overseers. This demands a critical reskilling effort, focusing on digital literacy, critical thinking, and client management to prepare the workforce for this transition.
"With the sector posting huge collective profits, these cuts are perceived as a stark choice between corporate greed and social responsibility. Banks have an obligation to manage this transition responsibly, by investing in extensive retraining programs, ensuring fair redundancy terms, and maintaining service accessibility. Offshoring hundreds of roles while reporting record profits deeply erodes public trust.”
Dr Angel Zhong is an Associate Professor of Finance, specialising in global financial markets, behaviour and trends.
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