Qantas to axe 850 jobs

[markis10]

Feel sorry for staff affected by the new agreement with Accenture

Qantas tells staff 850 roles affected by its Accenture partnership

Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson told staff on Tuesday that around 850 roles are expected to be affected over the coming years by a new multi-year partnership with Accenture, starting with finance, procurement, people and marketing, with some services moving to Accenture and delivered...

theaussiecorporate.com

 

[Melburnian1]

While it's good to feel sorry and pray for them, because losing a job can be devastating mentally/emotionally, for relationships and financially, and being gainfully employed gives us a sense of purpose and identity, unfortunately too many Australians have embraced so-called 'working from home' as a 21st century utopia.

Many who worked in offices or on factory floors throughout our working lives without taking non-valid 'sickies' or raiding the fridge/walking the dog believe that 'if a job can be done from home, it can easily be outsourced to Philippines, India, Malta or Bulgaria at a much more attractive cost base to employers', with the newly engaged contractors having similar skills to Oz-domiciled former employees/contractors.

850 jobs going is not a huge percentage of QF's total number of employees, but QF is a much smaller employer than companies like Woolworths or Coles.

 

[clifford]

As well as feeling sorry for the affected employees, I can foresee a period of chaotic change coming up, including for customers, if it's not done right. And Qantas doesn't have a good track record in this regard.

"It's all about the money, stupid".

 

[CaptJCool]

https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/qantas-group-fast-tracks-technology-and-ai-investment-with-new-accenture-partnership

 

[Hunter4vr]

While it's good to feel sorry and pray for them, because losing a job can be devastating mentally/emotionally, for relationships and financially, and being gainfully employed gives us a sense of purpose and identity, unfortunately too many Australians have embraced so-called 'working from home' as a 21st century utopia.

Many who worked in offices or on factory floors throughout our working lives without taking non-valid 'sickies' or raiding the fridge/walking the dog believe that 'if a job can be done from home, it can easily be outsourced to Philippines, India, Malta or Bulgaria at a much more attractive cost base to employers', with the newly engaged contractors having similar skills to Oz-domiciled former employees/contractors.

850 jobs going is not a huge percentage of QF's total number of employees, but QF is a much smaller employer than companies like Woolworths or Coles.

Yeah If a job is seen to be able to be done remotely then the company will find the cheapest way to perform said job. In my opinion support functions in a company are most susceptible to this as the cost of those functions is seen as a pure overhead to the business, a cost that they will always try to keep as low as possible.

 

[drron]

Yeah If a job is seen to be able to be done remotely then the company will find the cheapest way to perform said job. In my opinion support functions in a company are most susceptible to this as the cost of those functions is seen as a pure overhead to the business, a cost that they will always try to keep as low as possible.

With little or no thought for their customers.

 

[Melburnian1]

Yeah If a job is seen to be able to be done remotely then the company will find the cheapest way to perform said job. In my opinion support functions in a company are most susceptible to this as the cost of those functions is seen as a pure overhead to the business, a cost that they will always try to keep as low as possible.

Yes, from the many companies I've read about, it's never the managers whose jobs are transferred overseas.

But some managers do lose jobs if there's a flattening of structures, as it's so euphemistically described.

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

This has been happening (and accelerating) since long before people were more regularly working from home.

 

[desafinado74]

The timing from these "Aussie" companies are impeccable. Retrenchment announcement just before Christmas. Pathetic.

 

[mbe1510]

Just think how much Qantas could save by outsourcing the board and CEO to a third party that can be paid substantially less and requires fewer exorbitant bonuses!!!!

 

[Ade]

Article on MSN

MSN

 

[fletty]

This has been happening (and accelerating) since long before people were more regularly working from home.

Agreed, just because employees can work from home doesn't automatically mean the company will outsource the roles just because it's cheaper. I work for a fully remote company and there's no such behaviour.

Also I don't think QF really had remote work anyway? Any jobs I saw there were based out of Mascot.

 

[SeatBackForward]

With little or no thought for their customers.

This is my thought. Qantas' customer support service is already tenuous!

 

[dajop]

This has been happening (and accelerating) since long before people were more regularly working from home.

Yep agree. Working from home has not much to do with it.

In various companies I worked for accounts payable, IT support, marketing support, recruitment were all partially or fully either offshored (in-house) or outsourced (offshore) long before WFH became a thing.

It’s more that the types of jobs people can do effectively remotely can be done remotely - whether people are doing them sitting in an office everyday or from their home office.

Where I’ve seen it most effective is where the company recruits people offshore and manages them as employees rather than pure outsourcing. But that does not help achieve short term targets. Much quicker to completely outsource and not worry about the impact in 3-5 years time.

 

[Berlin]

This will just be “brilliant” for Qantas customers- NOT.

 

[CaptJCool]

This company made a $1.8 billion net profit before tax in FY 2026

Hardly suggests cost cutting is necessary
After all, those 600 cabin crew in Bali are paid how much per hour ?

 

[offshore171]

FINAL FLIGHT: Hundreds of Qantas employees facing redundancy have been offered a farewell gift from the airline: a complimentary one-way flight to India to train their replacements

The airline says the initiative is part of its commitment to supporting Australian workers through the transition.

“We want to make sure our 850 staff members feel valued right up until the moment we don’t need them,” said a Qantas spokesperson.

Employees will travel economy, with checked baggage, meals and seat selection available for an additional fee.

Qantas says return flights will be available at standard commercial rates, subject to availability.

Qantas offers 850 Australian workers free one-way flights to India to train their replacements

FINAL FLIGHT: Hundreds of Qantas employees facing redundancy have been offered a farewell gift from the airline: a complimentary one-way flight to India to train their replacements The airline says the initiative is part of its commitment to supporting Australian workers through the transition...

doublebaytoday.com

 

[Melburnian1]

While I have no objection to outsourcing - private sector/public companies have a right to decide 'yea' or 'nay' - it'd have been preferable if Vanessa Hudson convened a so-called 'town hall' meeting of staff in the affected divisions of QF and explained 'live' what QF was to do and why.

Even better if she answered questions, although that would be uncomfortable for her.

Fortunately I don't know anyone who's been terminated by email.

Given this initiative is months away from finalisation, will there be a gradual brain drain in the meantime? Will some staff use up all of their sick leave, depleting the number of workers available?

 

[Doddler]

QANTAS leadership must have been very impressed with Accenture’s work for the BOM.

 

[CaptJCool]

QANTAS leadership must have been very impressed with Accenture’s work for the BOM.

And the ATO