SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s dominant telecommunications company Telstra Wednesday announced plans to axe 8,000 jobs as part of a drastic new strategy to simplify the business and stay competitive in a rapidly changing industry.
The decision by Telstra, one of Australia’s largest employers, is part of a shake-up targeting an extra Aus$1 billion (US$750 million) in cost-cutting by 2022, on top of Aus$1.5 billion previously announced.
“We are creating a new Telstra that is able to continue to lead the market,” said chief executive Andrew Penn.
“In the future our workforce will be a smaller, knowledge-based one with a structure and way of working that is agile enough to deal with rapid change.
“This means that some roles will no longer be required, some will change and there will also be new ones created.”
The cuts come less than a month after Telstra warned that its 2017/18 earnings will likely be at the bottom of its guidance range of Aus$10.1 billion to Aus$10.6 billion, blaming increasing competition in mobile and fixed broadband.
Of the jobs to go, one in four will be executive and middle management roles.
Penn said the company had to take drastic action to stay on top in an increasingly competitive market.
“The rate and pace of change in our industry is increasingly driven by technological innovation and competition,” he said.
“In this environment traditional companies that do not respond are most at risk.
“We have worked hard preparing Telstra for this market dynamic while ensuring we did not act precipitously. However, we are now at a tipping point where we must act more boldly if we are to continue to be the nation’s leading telecommunications company.”
© Agence France-Presse
