Telstra to Axe 651 Jobs

Telstra has announced that it is cutting 651 jobs. The number is comprised of 422 full-time employees and 229 agency-hired personnel.

The decision was made as Telstra is streamlining its services. Some of its functions are also being outsourced.

Telstra’s Melbourne operations will let go of 235 employees. Sydney office, meanwhile, will lose 174 people. Two Telstra call centers in Lismore and Queensland will also close, axing about 242 employees.

According to industry sources, Telstra is outsourcing some of its functions to the Philippines, where there is a robust call center industry. These include Telstra’s service centers and Foxtel’s call centers.

The Australian call center, however, will continue to provide service to business clients.

According to Telstra, more customers are turning to the Internet for their services instead of going through traditional call centers. The development contributed to the company’s decision to lay off employees.

A Telstra spokeswoman said that the broadband testing and voice functions will be redirected to Telstra’s call centers in Perth and Townsville. These are currently serviced in Sydney and Melbourne.

The spokeswoman added that in the last 12 months, volumes of calls have decreased by more than 20 percent. The company also expects that the decline would continue in the next few years because more customers are going online and prefer self-serve functions.