Despite earlier reports that it was preparing to axe 250 jobs (CDN yesterday), No 2 telco Optus yesterday announced that in fact at least 350 are to go.
Optus – which is believed to now have a current head count of around 8700, down from 9700 three years ago – has already cut more than 1500 jobs since 2012 in a program initiated by former chief executive Keith Russell.
Russell culled 900 jobs in 2012, an exercise that was followed by a further slashing of 300 jobs from marketing, IT, networks and sales areas in 2013.
The latest round of redundancies, to be made over the next four weeks, will focus mainly on head office and support staff, Optus said yesterday. No frontline jobs will be involved, it added.
“In some divisions where you have a number of people doing similar roles, those roles will be consolidated into fewer roles,” a spokeswoman said. “They will be working from the same team rather than numerous teams.”
“Optus must continually review its operations to ensure we remain sustainable and competitive in the years ahead,” the company said yesterday.
