Telstra considering cutting more than 200 jobs

Telstra has confirmed that it is considering cutting another 204 jobs in it Global Finance Services business across business intelligence and analytics services, operational billing, credit services, and accounting.

"We constantly review the way we work to simplify our business and remove duplication. These proposed changes would consolidate some work because we are standardise [sic] our reporting and processes," a Telstra spokesperson said, adding that 35 current vacant Services Operations roles could also be removed entirely.

The telecommunications provider is also looking at increasing the volume of work carried out by its local and international partners.

"This will mean we are able to service our customers with a 24-hour response," the Telstra spokesperson explained.

"This is not a move we take lightly, and we will consult and work closely with our people on this. We take our responsibility to support employees through this period very seriously, and we absolutely understand the impact announcements like this can have on our employees."

Telstra will look a redeploying any redundancies elsewhere in the business where possible.

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) reported that of these 204 jobs, 139 will be offshored.

"Just weeks after announcing its intention to cut several hundred positions from its contact call centres, Telstra has now notified the CWU that it proposes changes that will see a range of billing and credit management functions outsourced and offshored," the CWU reported.

The CWU said it had been notified by Telstra on Friday, with the union labelling the decision to offshore jobs "a relentless search for cheap labour irrespective of its impact on individual employees, on their families, and on Telstra's own service quality and standing in the community".

Less than a month ago, Telstra confirmed that it would be cutting 326 jobs across its business, saying it would "remove duplication" in its customer service solution, and would "increase slightly the amount of work done by our partners overseas", with work types to be consolidated across Australia and the Philippines.

"We have talked to our people about a proposal to make changes to our Contact Centre and Telstra Business teams that will see a total of 326 roles impacted nationally. It impacts roles across our sales, service, and national office teams," a Telstra spokesperson said in a statement.

"We take our responsibility to support employees through this period very seriously, and we absolutely understand the impact announcements like this can have on our staff."

Telstra has been having a rough year, with three executives -- CIO Erez Yarkoni, COO Kate McKenzie, and CTO Vish Nandlall -- departing the company along with seven network outages.

Rival telecommunications provider Optus last month said that it is similarly considering outsourcing back office roles across its HR and finance departments, although the resulting redundancies have yet to be revealed and would not occur until next year.

This followed Optus' announcement in April that it would be restructuring its Enterprise and Consumer divisions through a series of around 480 redundancies, with a "reshape" of its workforce planned in order to support its transformation into a multimedia company rather than a pure telecommunications carrier.

Optus rationalised the process by saying it would allow it to become more streamlined and "innovative".