Business
• Analysis
NAB job cuts: bank to shed 2,500 roles, about 6% of workforce
National Australia Bank will cut 2,500 jobs, roughly 6% of its workforce, announcing the NAB job cuts on Tuesday with most redundancies to take place before the end of the year.
By Haut Monde Post
• October 20, 2026
• 2 Min Read
Why NAB says it is restructuring
National Australia Bank set out its reasons in a statement on Tuesday, citing a challenging economy, competition and rapid technological change as the pressures behind the decision to cut 2,500 jobs. The restructure, the bank said, is expected to:
- •reduce duplication across the organisation
- •speed up decision making
- •materially reduce its use of consultants and external contractors
NAB said the bulk of the redundancies would occur before the end of the year.
An industry-wide reset
The announcement follows ANZ's move last year to lay off 3,500 people, in what has become a series of banking sector job losses. RMIT finance professor Angel Zhong described the NAB restructure as part of a wider reset, saying banks are redesigning their workforces for digital banking.
This is not just cyclical cost cutting, it's structural change.
Zhong said banks are investing heavily in technology and AI. Financial institutions have rarely referenced AI directly when announcing redundancies, because of sensitivities over public and political backlash.
Union warns of impact on staff
The Finance Sector Union criticised the national australia bank layoffs. National assistant secretary Nicole McPherson said the cuts would significantly hit a workforce already overwhelmed by unmanageable workloads.
It will wreak chaos and entrench a culture of anxiety at a bank that seems hell bent on self-destruction.
Banking jobs and AI exposure
A government report released in July found banking jobs are among those most exposed to AI, with so-called cognitive roles - administrative, programming and clerk positions - most at risk. The cuts land as Australia's unemployment rate has risen to 4.7%, its highest in nearly five years, as the economy loses momentum. NAB said most of the redundancies would occur before the end of the year.
