An industry at risk: giving finance workers a say on AI

We need to ensure the voice, and experience of workers is front and centre so that AI benefits everyone.

Nicole McPherson
Assistant National Secretary, Finance Sector Union

Nicole McPherson explains how AI is impacting workers in the finance sector and makes the case for more effective rules around consultation with workers.

The finance sector has always been shaped by changes in technology, but artificial intelligence (AI) has brought a unique set of challenges to our industry.  

Across banking, insurance and superannuation, AI is no longer a future concept or limited trial. It’s deeply entrenched in almost every area of our industry – in customer service (including the use of chatbots and customer interactions), in loan and claims assessment (to determine eligibility), and in legal, compliance and administration teams (to research, draft and proofread documents and reports). Even employee management is now shaped by AI, with systems used to analyse surveillance data, monitor productivity and assist with rostering and attendance tracking.

Concerningly, the rapid acceleration of AI has outpaced existing regulatory frameworks designed to protect workers and promote fair practices.

Workers are being left behind

Surveys conducted by the Finance Sector Union (FSU) over the past 12 months showed a significant increase in the use of AI in finance workplaces.

  • Around 85% of workers now report using AI to some degree in their role.
  • 70% of respondents said AI threatens their job security, up from 60% just 12 months prior.
  • Almost three quarters said their employer has not discussed how AI will impact their role.
  • Half have received no AI training at all, and three quarters said they either did not feel prepared, or were unsure if they were prepared, to work alongside AI.
  • More than half reported experiencing workplace surveillance and said it had negatively impacted them and their work.

So, we are seeing increasing AI usage alongside inadequate (or non-existent) consultation, training and education. This is leading to worker anxiety, concerns about job security and difficulty fully engaging with these new technologies. 

CBA’s AI debacle: a case study in what not to do

In July 2025, Australia’s biggest bank became the first Australian business to replace jobs with AI. The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) introduced an AI-powered voice bot into its contact centres, then promptly cut 45 roles.

These were the same people who had unknowingly been training the chatbot that eventually took their jobs.

While CBA claimed the chatbot had significantly reduced call volumes, workers told a very different story. Call volumes were, in fact, spiking, because the bot could not direct calls effectively and frustrated customers had to call back repeatedly.

After strong pressure from the FSU, including filing a series of disputes in the Fair Work Commission and direct lobbying in Canberra, CBA was forced to admit they got it wrong and agreed to pause the rollout and reverse the job cuts.  

Throughout this process, the bank continually maintained it had no obligation to consult with workers until the decision to implement the chatbot had already been made. By the time consultation occurred, the decision had been made and the outcome decided.

Workers need to be consulted sooner

This case study exposed a major weakness in the current approach to consultation around technological change. Under existing industrial frameworks, the obligation to consult with workers is often not triggered until a major change decision has already been made, leaving workers with little opportunity to influence the outcome or prepare for the future.

What makes this worse is that many employers are actively avoiding early conversations with workers for fear of prematurely triggering consultation obligations. This creates a perverse incentive for silence, at precisely the moment when open conversations would be most valuable.

Following relentless advocacy by the FSU, CBA has now introduced a new program to support workers who may find themselves impacted by technological change. The Future Workforce Program is designed to help workers access training and development to upskill into future roles in the bank.

 CBA has now introduced a process to engage workers ahead of expected AI-related changes across several teams, including in the Collections team. The team recovers funds for the bank and importantly, works with customers who have gone into arrears or defaulted on loans or credit card payments to set payment plans in place.  

This new process creates opportunities for workers to discuss future work plans, express interest in redundancies or explore retraining pathways before changes are formally announced. The consultation has the potential to give workers some agency over workplace change, rather than having change imposed on them after jobs have already been cut.

The new approach at CBA is a substantial change from its earlier approaches to AI implementation. So, we will need to closely monitor this approach to ensure that it is implemented as intended and has the effect of empowering workers through technology change.

It’s time for workers to have a voice

Workers need a genuine say on how AI is adopted and implemented at work.

Workers need to be consulted early when the decision to introduce AI is being made. Many employers are interpreting the current industrial consultation requirements narrowly, saying the need to consult workers is only triggered at the last possible moment. That’s too late for meaningful and genuine consultation. Workers need time to retrain and reskill into the jobs of the future and this is only possible with early consultation.

The FSU is already negotiating much-needed clauses around technological change through collective agreements, and pushing for stronger consultation processes through joint consultative committees.

But that’s only half the answer.

It is time for employers to bring workers into the AI conversation early and in a genuine way. And if this does not occur, we should anticipate a dramatic increase in industrial disputation on consultation.  

We know AI will continue to play a huge role in the finance industry, but we need to ensure the voice, and experience of workers is front and centre so that AI benefits everyone, not just employers and businesses.

This article is part of a suite of papers written following the symposium ‘Which Way Forward? AI and Decent Work’. Read more here.