Australian telecommunications giant Telstra is planning to axe up to 650 jobs and outsource the roles to a technology firm in India.
Telstra CEO Vicki Brady informed staff of two proposals this week – one involving cutting 209 jobs from a $700 million AI joint venture with Accenture, and the other concerning 442 jobs set to be moved to Infosys.
The Accenture cuts will result in some jobs being taken over by AI and others moved to a “specialist hub” in India, and staff potentially affected by the Infosys move were told by email they could reapply with the India-based company or take a redundancy, ABC News reported.
“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,” 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 said the team at the Accenture joint venture, which began in early 2025, was “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,” they said.
“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.”
The cuts come after Telstra cut 550 roles in July last year, and Indian IT engineers were blamed for a 13-hour Triple-Zero outage that left at least three people dead across Australia in September.
Header image: A Telstra store in Sydney (Google Street View).
