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Telstra jobs to be cut across the board amid need to “urgently” transform

Telstra jobs to be cut across the board amid need to “urgently” transform

Telstra chief, Andy Penn, opens up about fresh redundancies and a new transformation plan

Andrew Penn - CEO, Telstra

Andrew Penn - CEO, Telstra

Telstra chief, Andy Penn, has revealed that 1400 job cuts flagged by the telco will affect roles right across the company’s entire business, as it launches itself headlong into an overarching transformation strategy.

Telstra confirmed on 14 June that it planned to cut the jobs from its ranks in a fresh round of redundancies. Now, in a message sent to Telstra employees, Penn has revealed that the cuts will come from most parts of the business across much of the country.

“We are consulting with our people on proposed changes that would ultimately result in up to 1400 roles no longer being required over the next six months,” he said. “This impacts positions from most parts of the business, at all levels of seniority and from all states and territories and, in some cases, internationally.”

The proposed redundancies, according to Penn, are all part of broader plan to better position the company to tackle evolving market and technological pressures.

“Telstra faces an unprecedented world of technology innovation and digital disruption,” Penn said. “This presents opportunities because we are at the centre of helping our customers adapt to technology innovation in their own industries.

“However, it also presents significant challenges as technology is disrupting our own operations as well. I strongly believe we can succeed in this environment, however to do so we need to transform, urgently.

“We will need to become a leaner organisation, one built on digitised systems and services for customers and employees, and one where we will continue to rely on partners for scale,” he said.

In response, Telstra has announced proposed organisational restructures and workforce changes across its Operations, Retail, Global Enterprise and Services, and Media and Marketing divisions.

According to Penn, the proposed changes designed to enable Telstra to work and deliver simpler end-to-end services, reduce its overall operating costs and allow it to compete more effectively.

“As a company, we are facing rapidly changing customer expectations, intensified market pressures and increasing competition, disruptive technology changes and shifting industry economics,” he said. “This includes things that we have talked about previously – the $2-3 billion EBITDA [earnings] gap due to the rollout of the NBN; margins on resale of the NBN likely to be lower than today; and meeting our customers’ increasing expectations of us.”

While Penn claims to believe the company has a “great future” ahead of it, he stressed that, for it to be successful, the telco can’t afford to operate as is has always done.

“We must change in order to continue to deliver for our customers. That means that we have to transform and challenge every aspect of how we work,” he said.

“That is why today we are announcing a number of proposed changes that we believe will drive greater simplicity and accountability across the business – many of which you have told us would make your roles much easier."

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