Remember the heart-tugging Qantas TV with kids singing ‘I still call Australia home’ in front of Uluru? Forget it. The off-shoring of call centre jobs for Telstra was a disaster. Send a message. Fly Virgin.
Qantas will cut 850 jobs in Australia and outsource some corporate functions to consulting firm Accenture as it adapts to the increased use of artificial intelligence in the airline industry.
The first phase of the cuts would affect finance, procurement, human resources and marketing staff. Some roles would be shifted to Accenture and performed by teams that would be “mostly” based in India, the airline said.
In an email to staff, Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson said the jobs would be cut “over the coming years”, with the first round to happen by mid-2027.
“Today we’re announcing a new multi-year partnership with Accenture and changes that will affect parts of our corporate functions.”
“I know this is hard news for some, and I’m sorry for the uncertainty it brings.”
The cuts affect around 3% of Qantas’ Australian workforce of 28,000.
Qantas is the latest in a growing number of big Australian companies to offshore workers in a bid to cut costs and improve efficiency.
The airline, Australia’s flag carrier, said the move was in response to rapid changes in the industry due to AI.
“The scale and speed of change in technology and AI is something none of us has seen in our lifetime,” Hudson said.
Back in 2024, Qantas agreed to pay the $120 million in compensation proposed by the Transport Workers Union (TWU) to former ground handlers who were illegally sacked by the airline in 2020.
Only recently have Qantas workers received their court-ordered payouts from a multimillion-dollar fine imposed on the airline, after a prolonged process that drew the ire of victims and the court.
The vast majority of 1800 ground crew workers illegally sacked by Qantas in 2021 received their court-ordered penalty payments worth thousands of dollars late last week, though they are still awaiting further money from a compensation fund.
Former CEO Alan Joyce walked away with $14 million payout for his time at the airline.
Joyce’s total salary package was $125 million.