National Australia Bank has unveiled the first stage of its campaign to cull 6000 roles from its fulltime workforce by 2020.The bank announced on Monday that it had informed 1000 staff that their positions were now redundant.Managing director Andrew Thorburn flagged the deep headcount reductions at the group's annual profit announcement in early November.While around more than a third of the targeted job cuts will be achieved through natural attrition, the bank will have to undertake several other forced redundancy programs.The first round of redundancies is expected to hack into middle management ranks of the bank and back office roles.Customer-facing positions are also being cut after the bank signalled last year that more branches had been earmarked for closure.NAB's corporate affairs unit is also said to be in the line of fire, with existing staff told they are required to apply for fewer positions in the business area.Jobs are also expected to go in several of NAB's underperforming businesses, most notably its credit cards operation which recently underwent a rationalisation of its product suite.The group-wide cull is part of a wider program initiated by Thorburn to refashion the bank as a digital business.In an unusual media release, NAB's head of people, Lorraine Murphy, highlighted the bank's commitment to help redundant staff members."We will acknowledge the contribution that people who are leaving us have made," she said in the statement."We will show through our actions that we care. For people who do ultimately leave us through redundancy, they will have access to world-class support to help them prepare for future success."There is no doubt that this is the right plan for our business. I encourage you to ensure that all of our people understand the changes and are supported, and that those who remain with us can deliver the type of bank we have promised our customers - a simpler, faster bank."The Finance Sector Union accused the bank of failing to meet community expectations by undertaking such a large job-cutting program."This is not just 6000 workers that will lose their jobs - it's 6000 people that will have to go home and tell their families they no longer have work," said FSU national secretary, Julia Angrisano."Many of these workers have been at NAB for years and they are the reason for NAB's billion dollar profits year on year. "NAB is axing 6000 roles while creating 2000 new technology roles, but there is no plan to reskill existing workers - they will be left behind."