CANBERRA: Telstra has slashed 411 workers from its call centres across the country, blaming falling profits in some parts of its business. The move came on the same Australia’s biggest phone and internet provider told institutional investors that it remained on track to grow revenue to more than $27 billion in financial year 2016.
Telstra has responded to rising pressure from its rivals in the mobile and fixed-line markets by slashing costs, outsourcing workers and automating parts of the business that previously relied on human interactions. Telstra told Fairfax Media in a statement that 273 full time Telstra workers and 276 agency staff employed at its call centres would be let go across Australia.
“However we are creating 138 new roles and 11 roles will transition from Ballarat to Melbourne,” a Telstra spokesman said. “This would result in a net loss of 135 Telstra roles. “We don’t take these decisions lightly and our focus at the moment is working through the proposed changes with our staff, including hearing their feedback on the proposals.”
This is the latest in a series of major job cuts at Telstra, which has consistently outsourced call centre and other support roles to overseas teams based in the Philippines and India. More than 600 jobs were sent to India last year and it also flagged a 1100 reduction in staff two years ago.
Telstra is increasingly looking towards the rising middle class of Asia in an effort to grow profits as its dominance of the local phone and internet market comes under threat.
Singtel-Optus and Vodafone Hutchison Australia have been fighting hard to eat away at Telstra’s vital mobile business while TPG Telecom and M2 Group are both growing the scale they need to win over more home and business broadband customers.
The $56 billion national broadband network is also set to replace Telstra as the monopoly provider of Australia’s copper-line phone and broadband services, which should lead to lower profits.
On Thursday it said an investment in the Philippines would see up to $US1 billion spent to buy a 40 per cent stake in a new joint-venture to build the South-East Asian nation’s third mobile network with local beer and food giant San Miguel. This would come on top of money raised through bank loans to fund the expensive construction costs there.
But despite the challenges Telstra continues to grow the amount of profit it generates from Australian consumers. Morgans Research analyst Nick Harris forecasts Telstra will make a $4.4 billion profit in financial year 2016 with revenues of $27 billion.
