NAB staff speak out after mass job cuts revealed

In short:

Entire teams of National Australia Bank workers are having to reapply for their jobs and compete among themselves as part of a major restructure.

Staff say the writing was on the wall as they witnessed the bank pushing to offshore workers and take up AI.

What's next?

The major bank revealed plans to slash 2,500 roles by June next year, with 1,500 expected to be out the door before Christmas.

National Australia Bank (NAB) workers have accused the banking giant of a "spill and fill" redundancy strategy, forcing entire teams to reapply for their positions as part of a sweeping restructure.

Earlier this week the major bank revealed plans to slash 2,500 roles by June, including 1,500 before Christmas.

This is about 6 per cent of its total workforce, with corporate roles bearing the brunt.

Several workers who spoke to the ABC on condition of anonymity said the writing was on the wall as the bank pushed the uptake of AI and moved work offshore.

"Until today, it's been a lovely place to work," said Dylan*, who has worked in NAB's technology team for a decade but learnt he could be unemployed by the end of the year.

His team will have to reapply for their jobs in what is known as a "spill and fill" type of workforce restructure, where existing roles are made vacant and current employees have to fight for a smaller number of positions.

There is a two-week consultation period for Dylan's team and, for those being shown the door, their last day will be December 2 or 17.

NAB chief executive Andrew Irvine said in a note to staff he encouraged colleagues to be "thoughtful" and check in on one another, and indicated support would be offered to those "impacted personally".

The bank said in an ASX announcement that the mass redundancies, which are estimated to cost the bank about $300 million in restructuring costs, were part of "actions to simplify its operating model and better align its workforce to prioritise growth and technology initiatives for customers".

The bank declined to comment to the ABC on staff members' claims.

Jobs offshored

The looming redundancies have sparked serious concerns about offshoring among staff, as the banking heavyweight bolsters its Indian and Vietnamese headcount while it cuts staff based in Australia.

A leaked workforce plan seen by the ABC shows Dylan's team in technology, which consists of just under 500 people, is currently 53 per cent Australian-based.

The rest are based in NAB's offices in India (14 per cent), Vietnam (13 per cent), or are external contractors.

But, under the plan, the number of staff would be reduced to 400 by the 2027 financial year while the percentage of offshore workers would increase.

The Australian-based workforce would be cut to 40 per cent, with the Indian and Vietnamese offices upping their numbers to 30 and 20 per cent respectively.

James* resigned last Friday, just days before NAB announced it was going to slash staff, because of fears about the longevity of his business banking role.

He shared an email NAB sent in March, which stated the bank would be "expanding out teams in NAB India" to help in its goal of "focusing on digitising and simplifying processes, including increasing automation to speed up turnaround time" and "investing in our global teams".

James said the messaging in NAB had changed so drastically in the past six months that he no longer felt safe in his job and had left the banking industry.

"People are feeling the anxiety," he said, adding that he had moved to a service-based industry because, "I can't be replaced realistically for the next five to 10 years."

AI concerns

AI is also an issue on everyone's lips.

While there was no direct reference to AI, NAB did refer to "rapid technological change" in its announcement to the market and experts say its impact is clear.

MST Financial analyst Brian Johnson said that for a long time it was politically unacceptable to essentially replace people with AI.

"We're probably approaching the point where it becomes more politically palatable to actually shed staff than perhaps it was even six months ago,"he said.

"Technology will supplant a lot of functions at jobs. You can just do things better and faster."

Recruiter Clinton Marks from Robert Half said bank redundancies in 2026 appeared to be driven more by cost-cutting and organisational restructuring than direct AI replacement, despite growing pressure on executives to find productivity gains through technology.

Mr Marks said C-level managers were "under great pressure to reduce cost" and that "AI [is] an answer to those questions".

However, he said most organisations were not ready for large-scale AI deployment and he was not yet seeing workers replaced by the technology.

Instead, Mr Marks said, recent redundancy rounds were largely about reducing costs and streamlining operations, while demand remained strongest for workers with skills in cyber security, governance, risk, compliance and AI adoption.

'Wrecking ball'

The union representing bank employees said it was appalled by NAB's redundancy plans and dubbed it a "wrecking ball" to hit staff with the news so close to Christmas.

"Cutting 6 per cent of a workforce will not simplify NAB's operating model or better align its workforce to prioritise growth," Finance Sector Union (FSU) national assistant secretary Nicole McPherson said.

"It will wreak chaos and entrench a culture of anxiety at a bank that seems hell-bent on self-destruction.

"To take a wrecking ball to 6 per cent of one of Australia's largest workforces this close to Christmas is disgraceful and shows that NAB's leadership is completely detached from the lived experience of their workers."

Australian banks, large and small, have been cutting their workforces, with a major restructure at ANZ leading to thousands of job losses in the past year.

Last month, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank proposed cutting 137 jobs as part of an ongoing restructure.

The FSU has also said it had already seen 1,000 jobs cut so far this year at the Commonwealth Bank.

At the Commonwealth Bank's annual general meeting last week, the FSU asked if it could receive assurances workers' jobs were safe, prompting the bank to say there was "no ability to give a blanket commitment", adding that "AI is changing and complementing the way we work".

* Names have been changed to protect workers from potential negative repercussions.