A Commonwealth Bank employee dared to ask the boss why his salary is so much more generous than that of junior staff.
The question was directed to CBA chief executive Matt Comyn at Thursday’s board meeting and then picked up on social media as resentment grew over the bank’s record $10.2 billion profit for the past fiscal year.
“According to The Australian Financial Review, your take-home pay has increased by almost 50 per cent,” an associate wrote in the question to Mr Comyn, who pocketed a $10.4 million pay package with nearly $8 million in bonuses.
“Why are you entitled to this hefty increase when the rest of us are cut to a maximum of 5.25 percent?”
It is not known whether Mr Comyn answered the question at the meeting, but he was forced to justify his pay during a separate interview on Sky News on Thursday.
Commonwealth Bank CEO Matt Comyn was asked by one of his employees why his salary had doubled while lower-ranking employees received a much meager raise
Mr Comyn admitted to interviewer Ross Greenwood that he took home a huge sum but said it reflected the bank’s excellent performance.
“The way I and other members of my leadership team are rewarded is based on very clear performance metrics established over several years,” said Mr. Comyn.
“And in this case, those performance metrics were exceeded and the reward that is paid is a result of that.”
The Aussie Corporate Instagram account, which shared the Town Hall question, was less than impressed.
“Record breaking and employee bravery in 2023,” the account wrote as it accused the bank of “ongoing layoffs” and “minimal wage increases.”
Others note that the bank’s massive profits came from 12 rapid rate hikes.
“F*** you can’t wait to lay in my mortgage wrecked house tonight dreaming about how much money they made,” one person wrote.
The question brought Mr. Comyn on the spot about the differences in take-home pay between himself and other CBA employees
Another comment read simply: “Disgusting.”
The windfall result also drew a blow from Australian Council of Trade Union Secretary Sally McManus.
“The CBA has just announced a record profit. Is the price going up a lot?’ she tweeted.
The Commonwealth Bank has offered staff a 17 percent pay rise over four years, The Australian reported Thursday.
“We put in and communicated to our people an offer of 12.75 percent over three years,” Comyn said.
“I think it’s a reasonable position. We hope it will be supported.’
But Julia Angrisano, national secretary of the Finance Sector Union, called the offer a “slap in the face.”
“Their proposed pay rise would be a pay cut in real terms given inflation,” she said.
CEO Matt Comyn’s 50 percent pay raise to $10.4 million is a slap in the face to CBA employees who delivered the profits that caused this increase. CBA must reward its staff with class-leading wage increases.’
The Commonwealth Bank has announced a record profit of $10.2 billion for the past fiscal year
Professional poker player and author Crispin Rovere, who previously fell out with Westpac after they blocked his account, has become an outspoken critic of banks and has been scathing in his comments on the Commonwealth Bank’s results.
“Commonwealth Bank used to be a national agency. It just delivered a record $10.5 billion profit, entirely by jacking up the price of loans on top of increased interest rates,” he tweeted.
“Filling this up is removing ATMs, closing branches in rural areas, forcing customers to pay cashless while still collecting lewd trading fees for digital transactions. Not a single dollar has been generated through improved competitiveness, service or product innovation.
“Commbank executives are just rolling out and collecting huge bonuses on the backs of struggling mortgage payers while not adding any value.”
Speaking to nine newspapers, Mr Comyn denied that the bank’s profits came at the expense of its customers.
“It’s not a choice between profitability or doing a good job for clients; you can do both,” he said during an analyst call after the earnings announcement.
‘Every company, certainly in the medium or long term, has to do both. If you don’t do well with your customers, you can’t grow and it’s impossible to achieve sustainable returns.’