Oct 9 (Reuters) – Australia’s biggest lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX) will cut 192 jobs from its back office operations in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, including some workers currently employed by BankWest, trade union Finance Sector Union (FSU) said on Monday.

CBA told FSU the jobs cuts were due to automation initiatives in the company’s retail banking and home lending business, which allowed it to simplify processes, the trade union said in a statement.

“It is clear that the CBA has no hesitation throwing workers onto the unemployment queue in its relentless campaign to cut costs and boost profits,” FSU National Secretary Julia Angrisano said.

The latest cuts have brought the numbers of jobs lost at CBA in the past year to 1085, Angrisano said.

“As part of our focus on constant business improvement, we regularly review the skills we need and how we organised. That means from time to time some roles and work will change or no longer be required. These decisions are never easy nor are they taken lightly, a CBA spokesperson said in an email, but did not confirm how many jobs would be cut.

Reuters has previously reported citing sources that the CBA could cut up to 200 jobs, with some employees being redeployed into some other roles.

The latest job cut news comes amid reports of National Australia Bank (NAB.AX) and Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) also axing several hundred jobs to navigate a difficult macro economic situation involving high inflation and elevated interest rates.

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