Telstra Pushes For Outsourcing For Better Service

About 648 telco staff members are set to lose their job by Tuesday when Telstra puts to effect new customer service staff outsourced from the Philippines and India.

Telstra’s managing director, John Allan, has defended the company’s move in a meeting with union officials saying that the new service will help provide Australians “better customer services from Manila or India” since representatives there are deemed better with innovation and technology.

The meeting was supposed to address the job cuts done at Telstra’s Sensis unit, which was reported to have lagged behind in revenues to as much as 12.6%. The job cuts took effect after the company has reported their half-year profit, which was pegged at $1.6 billion.

While Prime Minister Julia Gillard is sympathetic to Telstra’s staff, unions and its leaders are more vocal about Telstra’s decision, saying that the company still enjoys profits with its hard-working staff and its loyal customer base.

”And to add insult to injury, we have been told that one of the reasons why they are doing so is because Australian consumers can get better customer service in the Philippines or India.”

Sensis is responsible for coming up with printed copies of the Yellow and White pages directories, even as consumers have long moved on with the conveniences of digital options. But because of licensing conditions, Telstra continues to print these.

The unit has acknowledged that they use an “outdated print-based model”, which is why Sensis is struggling with finding ways on how to target the digital market in order to maintain profitability.