NAB has pushed its forced redundancies back to late January, two weeks after it said up to 1,500 roles would go before the end of 2026. People at the bank told The Aussie Corporate of the delay this week, and the Finance Sector Union says no one will be made involuntarily redundant before Christmas.
One person told us "nab has delayed all non voluntary redundancies until late jan after meeting with FSU". Another said NAB redundancies were "just pushed out to Jan 27th, instead of before Christmas."
The first person said the union was stating that gardening leave had been agreed for that time, and that the consultation period would now close on 11 November. They said the chief executive's email stated "the date has been moved" and that final dates would be announced the next day.
What the union says
The Finance Sector Union said on 3 November that NAB's chief executive had agreed "no worker will be forced out of their job before Christmas". It said "All involuntary exits are deferred until 27 January 2027" and that people made involuntarily redundant "will be granted gardening leave from 16 December 2026 to 27 January 2027".
Consultation and the expression of interest process stay open until Wednesday 11 November, the union said. People who asked for and were granted voluntary redundancy can still leave on 2 December. For exits in late January, the January 2027 salary increase will be included in final redundancy payments, and NAB will give a detailed analysis of the proposed changes by 6 November, according to the union.
The union also said "NAB still plans to go ahead with thousands of job cuts in the new year." It did not say how many people the delay covers.
How it got here
NAB announced on 20 October that it expects "to reduce its internal workforce by up to 2,500 roles or ~6% in FY27", including "up to 1,500 roles before the end of 2026". The bank said it would "materially reduce its use of consultants and external contractors" and expects a restructuring charge of about $300 million before tax in FY27.
On 30 October the union's National President, Wendy Streets, wrote that she had met NAB's chief executive and that "No NAB worker should be forced out of their job before Christmas." She said the consultation period "must be extended beyond Thursday 5 November" and that the union was prepared to take its dispute to the Fair Work Commission if NAB did not deliver at a final meeting on Monday.
What people at the bank told us
People at NAB have written to us about the cuts since the announcement. On 29 October one person said affected colleagues were told fixed reward outcomes and approvals for You Leave were paused during the restructure. Earlier on 3 November a person at the bank said only some divisional and subdivisional Christmas functions had been cancelled, with funding unchanged at $50 a head.
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