CBA denies offshoring push despite new Bengaluru office complex
- CBA built a Bengaluru office complex with capacity for thousands of staff.
- CEO Matt Comyn said CBA does not plan to add India employees.
- CBA is believed to have cut more than 1,000 roles in two years.
- NAB plans to hire more than 1,000 staff in Vietnam and India.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) says a new office complex in Bengaluru, India, with capacity for thousands of offshore staff, does not signal that more of its work is moving overseas. Chief executive Matt Comyn said the bank has no plans to add employees in India and that all its data, systems and records remain in Australia.
Staff press the board
CBA staff questioned the board about the Bangalore-based complex as local workforce numbers fall and offshore numbers grow, according to HR Leader, which carried the story from sister title Banking Daily. Chairman Paul O’Malley responded that the bank was looking to invest heavily in its cyber obligations and in its defenses against financial crime and fraud.
“We’ve got great capability in Australia, but the risk and opportunity to do better in cyber requires us to invest in skills and capabilities, and we’re doing that absolutely substantively in Australia,” O’Malley said. “But we do need to look for complementary skills all around the world, and we hire people from offshore.”
Comyn said the office is not an indicator of future offshoring plans. “We’re not planning to increase the number of employees in India, and then secondly, all of the data and systems and records remain in Australia,” he said.
Two years of job cuts
The concerns come as local headcount falls. The bank is believed to have cut more than 1,000 roles over the last two years, many believed to be linked to its growing investment in artificial intelligence (AI).
In July 2025, CBA said it would cut at least 45 customer service jobs to make room for AI, shortly after 304 staff were cut and 110 new jobs were created in India. It reversed that decision when call volumes jumped and managers had to stay back to answer phones.
The bank then cut around 300 jobs when it launched its A$90 million (about $62 million) Future Workforce Program in February, though it denied those cuts were AI-related. Another 119 jobs went in April, and a further 230 cuts in September angered the Finance Sector Union (FSU).
Rivals move the other way
Major rivals are expanding offshore. National Australia Bank (NAB) plans to hire more than 1,000 staff in Vietnam and India, and has doubled its workforce in both countries over the past three years.
For Australian banks, the question is less whether to use offshore teams than which work moves and where the data sits. Firms weighing offshore outsourcing or a captive global capability center (GCC) in India can compare providers on the top BPO companies in Australia list.
Related news
- Bendigo Bank cuts 140 jobs in outsourcing push · 23 Sep
- Officeworks moves hundreds of tech jobs to India and Philippines · 3 Jun
- NAB plans 1,000 more offshore hires as Australian bank jobs are cut · 2 Jun
Disclosure: Outsource Accelerator uses AI tools in the backend of its editorial workflow. Every article is reviewed and verified by a human editor before publication.
Stay ahead of the outsourcing industry. Join thousands of business leaders who rely on Outsource Accelerator for the news, trends, and expert insights that matter. Subscribe to our free newsletter and never miss an update.
