Telstra to axe up to 650 roles in mass redundancy round, some jobs to be outsourced to India
Telstra could axe around 650 roles, the ABC has learned, with the 200 job losses revealed on Tuesday just some of the roles on the chopping block.
Emails shared exclusively with ABC News by Telstra staff have revealed up to 650 jobs could go, with some to be outsourced to a technology firm in India.
After the telco confirmed 209 jobs would be slashed from its AI joint venture with Accenture, Telstra workers said they had also been notified of more than 400 other potential job losses.
The total scale of the cuts was outlined in an email sent to staff on Tuesday at 4:49pm AEDT; CEO Vicki Brady detailed proposed changes to the telco’s Telstra Enterprise and Telstra Customer divisions.
Telstra Enterprise focuses on telecommunications services for businesses, while Telstra Customer is the firm’s retail division.
“These proposals are intended to help us reduce complexity, be more competitive and operate more efficiently and sustainably,” Ms Brady wrote to staff.
“This is important for us to deliver on our Connected Future 30 ambition by providing simpler, faster and more competitive experiences for our customers.”
Vicki Brady says the proposals are intended to “help reduce complexity”. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)
Connected Future 30 is a five-year strategy designed to further integrate artificial intelligence into the business.
As part of the strategy, 550 job cuts were announced in July 2025.
These staff cuts are in addition to that round of redundancies.
Employees given two options
On Tuesday, Ms Brady told staff, “We have proposed to reset how we serve and deliver for our enterprise customers through a five-year strategic partnership with Infosys, which would mean some work would move to Infosys, and some roles would be reduced.”
Infosys is an India-based technology company that provides information technology, business consulting and outsourcing services.
“We’ve also proposed changes in Telstra Consumer to better meet changing customer expectations, including simpler, faster and more seamless digital experiences,” Ms Brady wrote.
“If these changes go ahead, around 442 roles will not be required.“
One Telstra employee, who wanted to go by the name Kate, told the ABC she was “told in a group teams meeting [with no chat option or mic availability] that we either apply for our jobs with a company called Infosys, or we will be given a redundancy.”
Kate said Telstra had given affected employees two options:
“Option 1: Move to Infosys. We can submit an Expression of Interest (EOI). It is not guaranteed you’ll be accepted. Telstra + [sic] Infosys will jointly assess EOIs.
“Option 2: Redundancy. If you don’t submit an EOI, or if you submit an EOI but are not selected, we will go into the redundancy process.”
In short, some Telstra employees affected by these redundancies can opt to apply for another role with Infosys.
Move to ‘simplify’ operations
Ms Brady told staff, “We’ve made good progress over the last five years to simplify our operations and improve the customer experience, but in some parts of Telstra, complexity still makes it difficult for our customers to do business with us.”
To reduce this “complexity” and improve business efficiency, Telstra and Accenture have teamed up in a joint venture.
It is in this joint venture (JV) that up to a further 209 jobs are expected to go.
The $700 million JV was announced early in 2025.
The purpose of the business vehicle, Telstra said previously, was to improve business processes.
A JV spokesperson told the ABC on Tuesday, February 10: “We spoke with the Telstra Accenture Data & AI Joint Venture (JV) team today about proposed changes to its workforce, including reducing roles where work is no longer needed, and moving some work to the JV team in India.
“These changes would see the JV use Accenture’s global capabilities, advanced AI expertise and specialist hub in India to deliver Telstra’s data and AI roadmap more quickly.”
It is unclear how many roles in the JV are set to be moved to India.
Regarding this latest round of redundancies, Ms Brady told staff: “I understand this news may be challenging to hear, but I am confident these proposals are the right ones to help us become more simple and competitive as we continue to build momentum behind our Connected Future 30 strategy.”
A Telstra spokesperson told the ABC, “We are committed to consulting with our people first about the proposed changes.”
“If the proposals go ahead, both Telstra and the JV are committed to exploring redeployment opportunities for those people impacted.
“Our Telstra team will be able to apply for open roles at Telstra, and the JV team will be able to apply for open roles at Telstra or Accenture.
“If that’s not possible and people leave Telstra or the JV, they’ll have access to leading retrenchment benefits and a range of support services.”
