Telstra may cut more after 1100 staff axed

Shrinking workforce: Telstra says it expects to get 'smaller' every year. Photo: Getty Images

Malcolm Maiden: Jobs for the buoys amid cuts Telstra to cut 1100 jobs in restructure Telstra has shed about one-third of its local workforce over the past decade or so, and more job cuts are expected at the $61 billion telco, one of Australia's biggest private-sector employers.
Australia accounts for about 30,000 of Telstras 40,000-strong workforce, excluding yesterdays announcement that 1,100 jobs would go. But annual reports from last decade show that Telstra had 44,874 full-time Australian-based employees in June 2001.
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The number of Australian-based employees fell to 39,657 by June 2005. Telstras total workforce numbers have been declining for years, from 48,317 in June 2001 to 46,336 in June 2005. Its total workforce was about the same level three years later - 46,649 at June 2008 - but this fell to 38,663 as shown in its December 2012 half-year report. Ahead of yesterdays announcement, Telstra was this week grilled by shareholders on job losses and offshoring at its retail shareholder meetings. Chief executive David Thodey told shareholders on Monday the company had hired as many people as it had sacked in the past year, about 2000, as part of a business rebalancing. Mr Thodey said it was challenging because he wanted a vibrant Australian workforce, but wherever jobs are located they must deliver good service.

This morning, Telstra chief operations officer Brendon Riley confirmed the companys numbers would shrink over the next few years. Overall, I would say probably every year we will get a little bit smaller, Mr Riley told Fairfax Radio. I dont know about indefinitely, but I think certainly for the next few years that will be the case. The job cut announcement comes as Telstra faces fresh discussions with the Coalition government about the national broadband network, in particular Telstras $11 billion commitment to allow its infrastructure to be used by the NBN and become a retailer only. Telstra has said it is heartened by the Coalitions promise to keep Telstra shareholders whole - that it, not disadvantage them under a new deal. There are also expectations that Telstra will win contracts under the new NBN to be rolled out by the Coalition, which will shift from fibre-to-the-home to fibre-to-the-node. The NBN, Australias largest infrastructure project, is facing a top-level overhaul of its executive and boardroom ranks, as revealed by Fairfax Media on Monday. Telstra management are today meeting with union officials today to discuss the 1,100 job cuts, which are part of a sweeping restructure announced by the telco in May that is designed to shift spending from low-growth businesses, such as its landline business, to high-growth ones, such as the NBN rollout, and Network Applications and Services, media and Asia. Under the restructure, Telstras operational activities will be reorganised into five groups, three of which - networks, IT solutions and customer service delivery - would be new. The bulk of this weeks announced cuts will come from Telstra Operations, the business unit that handles the design, construction, and operation of Telstra's networks, plus the delivery of some customer services. Affected employees include fixed network technicians in New South Wales, Victoria, ACT and Tasmania, the media operations team and the customer service team. The cuts, which will be completed by June 2014, were slammed by the Communications Union, which described them as just the tip of the iceberg. This is one of the most profitable companies in Australia and yet it continues to move jobs offshore, CEPU national secretary Shane Murphy said. Telstra shares closed 3 cents, or 0.6 per cent, higher at $4.96.