National Australia Bank will eliminate up to 2,500 roles by the end of the 2027 financial year, represent 6 per cent of the bank’s total workforce.
National Australia Bank will cut up to 2,500 roles in an internal restructure it says will help it cope with a tough economy and rapid technological change.
NAB expects 1,500 roles will be eliminated by the end of the year, the bank said in an ASX announcement on Tuesday morning, plus another 1,000 by the end of FY27. The $124 billion bank will also “materially reduce” the use of consultants and contractors, it said.
“These changes are expected to improve outcomes for customers by reducing duplication and speeding up decision making,” said NAB Group CEO Andrew Irvine.
“We are particularly focused on reducing the size of corporate functions… we have also deliberately made deeper changes to senior management positions which will broaden leadership responsibilities across the bank.”
NAB says it will spend roughly $300 million on restructuring costs related to the cuts. Savings from the headcount reductions will go towards NAB’s business banking, home lending and deposit growth strategies.
It comes as the bank has been expanding its headcount in overseas offices, particularly India and Vietnam. It had around 7,000 employees in those two countries as of May, up from 1,800 in March of 2023. The bank last September cut 400 technology and enterprise roles at the same time as it moved other jobs to “innovation centres” in India and Vietnam.
The Finance Sector Union said it was “appalled” by the cuts, which it described as “disgraceful.”
“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,” the Union said in a statement to media.
“Cutting 6 per cent of a workforce will not ‘simplify’ NAB’s operating model or ‘better align its workforce to prioritise growth’. It will wreak chaos and entrench a culture of anxiety at a bank that seems hell bent on self-destruction.”
Irvine focused NAB’s strategy on productivity and simplicity in 2024, with the bank targeting over $450 million in productivity savings in the year to 30 September, 2026. NAB is simultaneously pursuing a multi-billion-dollar investment program as it seeks to improve its digital services, bolster financial crime and fraud detection, and modernise infrastructure to better allow it to capitalise on AI.
Its total operating expenses rose 3.4 per cent to $10.35 billion in the 2025 financial year. One fast-growing expense is “professional fees”, including payments to consultants and other external contractors, which went up 14 per cent to $737 million.
NAB reported $6.76 billion in statutory net profit for the 2025 financial year, down slightly from $6.96 billion the prior year.
It is not the only big bank to make big cuts to staff over the past 18 months. ANZ last September announced a program to slash 3,500 employees and over 1,000 contractors, while the Finance Sector Union says Commonwealth Bank has cut over 1,000 roles since January.
Update, 12:57 PM: Adds statement from Finance Sector Union.
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