Qantas will cut about 850 corporate jobs in Australia over the coming years and outsource parts of its corporate functions to Accenture, the airline said Tuesday, tying the move to the growing use of AI across the airline industry.
The first changes are expected to be in place by mid-2027. The initial phase covers finance, procurement, human resources and marketing staff, and the 850 roles represent roughly 3% of Qantas' Australian workforce of 28,000.
Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson announced the multi-year Accenture partnership in an all-staff email. According to that email, the outsourced services will be delivered mostly by Accenture teams in India, with some work staying in Australia. Qantas said the partnership is meant to redesign and simplify how its corporate functions work and reduce duplication.
Key facts
- 01Qantas expects about 850 corporate roles to be affected over the coming years under a new multi-year partnership with Accenture.
- 02The first changes are expected to be in place by mid-2027.
- 03Finance, procurement, human resources and marketing teams are in the first phase.
- 04Accenture will deliver the work mostly from teams in India, with some in Australia.
- 05The cuts equal roughly 3% of Qantas' Australian workforce of 28,000.
Hudson framed the decision around technology. She said the scale and speed of change in technology and AI is something none of her staff have seen in their lifetimes, and pointed to the airline's aging internal software stack as a constraint.
“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.”— Vanessa Hudson, Qantas Group CEO
Hudson said the Accenture deal will let Qantas move faster on innovation and accelerate its use of AI, with lasting benefits for the business.
Qantas said individual outcomes for affected staff have not yet been determined and that it will look to redeploy as many people as possible into other roles inside the group.
“I know this is hard news for some, and I'm sorry for the uncertainty it brings.”— Vanessa Hudson, Qantas Group CEO
The Australian Services Union said it was meeting with its Qantas members on Tuesday following the announcement.
Qantas joins a string of large Australian employers that have moved work offshore this year, including Woolworths, Officeworks, Telstra and National Australia Bank.
In her email to staff, Hudson said standing still is not an option for Qantas.
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