National Australia Bank's headline result, telling a tale of cash profit up 2.5 per cent to more than A$6.6 billion, was slightly overshadowed by the cutting of almost 20 per cent of the banking group's workforce. That's 6,000 jobs, out of around 30,000 currently.NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn remained clinical in his announcement that the bank's program of cost cutting and simplification of business lines - much like the activity at Melbourne-headquartered rival ANZ - would continue apace and take advantage of the rising digitisation of the sector."We have made strong progress over the past three years and now we announce an acceleration of our strategy. This involves an estimated A$1.5 billion increase in investment by the end of FY20 to further improve the experience for our customers, reshape our workforce and grow our bank. Cost savings of greater than $1 billion are targeted by the end of FY20 as we further simplify our business."In the media conference that followed, Thorburn reiterated these comments:"What we're doing is we're simplifying the bank. And as we simplify, we automate processes and things move to digital channels, we will need less people and as that happens we estimate that there will be 6000 less people needed in three years' time."Having said that, we're hiring 2000 people with different capabilities: data scientists, AI, robotics, automation, technology people, digital people, so the net will be 4000 and that's just a reshaping that's going to happen."Thorburn conceded that retraining would be an option "for people who have got the aptitude and commitment", and added that the job losses would be stretched over three years, and past history indicated that there were usually 3000 "voluntary attritions every single year".Unsurprisingly, the Finance Sector Union of Australia was quick to point out that on the same day that NAB announced a 2.5 per cent lift in cash profit - to $6.64 billion - it also announced the plans to cut staff numbers by 18 per cent. The FSU was concerned at the lack of detail provided on job cuts and has requested urgent talks with NAB executives. "Detail is light on how the bank has determined that 6,000 jobs are to be cut, and where and when. We have requested urgent talks with CEO Andrew Thorburn and his executives on how they have come to this figure," said Julia Angrisano, FSU National Secretary."We would also like further information to be provided urgently on the 2,000 new jobs they are planning. NAB has a professional and skilled workforce and we will be asking how workers can be retrained for the new jobs, rather than being made redundant.  "NAB along with the rest of the banking industry, has a long-term social responsibility to their workers … especially so in a period of intense digital disruption," Angrisano said.