Qantas to cut 850 corporate jobs as Accenture moves most of the work to India
Chief executive Vanessa Hudson told staff the first finance, procurement and marketing roles will go by mid-2027 under a multi-year Accenture deal.
Qantas will cut 850 corporate jobs in Australia and hand some of that work to consulting firm Accenture, with most of it to be done by Accenture's teams in India, ABC News, the BBC, The Hindu and Mint reported on Tuesday.
Chief executive Vanessa Hudson announced the cuts in an all-staff email. "I know this is hard news for some, and I'm sorry for the uncertainty it brings," she wrote, according to The Hindu. The jobs will go over the coming years, with the first changes due by mid-2027.
The outlets gave slightly different lists of the teams affected first. ABC News named finance, procurement and marketing. The BBC and Mint added people functions, and The Hindu said human resources. Ms Hudson wrote that services in those areas would be "delivered mostly by its teams in India and some in Australia".
The Hindu said the cuts equal about 3 per cent of Qantas's Australian workforce of 28,000. The BBC reported the group also employs about 4,000 people outside Australia. According to the Australian Services Union, most of the affected jobs are in Sydney, ABC News reported.
Ms Hudson said the deal was about modernising the airline's technology. "Like every airline, we run on technology built up over decades for a different era, including more than 1,000 legacy applications that were never designed to work together," she said. The BBC reported Qantas spends more than $1 billion a year on technology. The Hindu quoted her as saying the airline "cannot hire at the pace this work needs" for data and AI skills. Qantas said it would redeploy staff where possible.
The union says it was given different assurances. ASU assistant national secretary Scott Cowen told The Hindu and Mint that Qantas had said earlier this year there was "no plan to offshore any jobs". Mint reported workers were told this in August. ABC News quoted him saying the union had been told "there was no plan for 1,000 jobs to be offshored". A Qantas spokesperson told The Hindu: "We have never given assurances to the union that some jobs wouldn't move offshore."
Mint, citing 9News, quoted ASU NSW secretary Angus McFarland as saying "no Australian benefits from this". ABC News reported Telstra announced a $700 million joint venture with Accenture last year and later revealed plans to cut 209 jobs, while Coles is reported to have moved up to 1,000 jobs offshore after partnering with the firm. The Hindu said Woolworths, Officeworks, Telstra and National Australia Bank had announced similar moves this year.
Qantas shares rose more than 6 per cent after the announcement, ABC News reported. Last Friday the group flagged cuts to 4 per cent of Qantas and Jetstar flights and possible fare changes because of higher fuel costs. It reported a $1.29 billion statutory profit after tax for 2025/26.
Mint reported that Ms Hudson said the effects on individual staff had not been fully worked out and management would consult unions in the coming months. The union is seeking details on the number and type of jobs affected and on retraining support.
Sources: ABC News, Qantas sends corporate roles overseas as airline slashes 850 jobs; BBC News, Qantas to outsource 850 local jobs with most roles moving to India; The Hindu, Australia's Qantas to axe 850 jobs in offshoring deal with Accenture; Mint, Qantas to bring 850 jobs to India via outsourcing deal with Accenture; Aussie unions raise concerns: Report.
