EXCLUSIVE: Telstra\u2019s international arm is proposing to cut around 160 roles as it seeks to reduce \u201cmanual steps\u201d in its work by implementing \u201cre-engineered processes, automation, analytics and AI\u201d under a new agreement with consultancy giant Accenture.<\/p>\n
Roary Stasko, the American CEO of Telstra International, detailed the proposed changes to staff on Thursday (AEDT), according to internal messages seen by Information Age.<\/p>\n
The proposal would cut 128 internal roles and 35 contractor positions in Telstra International\u2019s Customer Success team through a five-year partnership with Accenture \u2013 under which 10 new roles would supposedly be created.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertain work currently carried out within Telstra International would transition to Accenture, and some would no longer be required in the proposed new operating model,\u201d Stasko told staff.<\/p>\n
Eight Australian-based roles have been proposed for redundancy within Telstra International, Information Age understands.<\/p>\n
If the proposal goes ahead following consultation with staff, some of the division\u2019s technical support employees in Malaysia would be offered roles with Accenture, according to the internal announcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are not decisions we take lightly \u2013 the proposed changes affect colleagues we work with every day, many of whom have contributed to International over many years,\u201d Stasko told staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur focus is now on supporting our people through consultation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a critical part of what happens next, and we are committed to listening and answering questions and supporting people through this process.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Telstra spokesperson told Information Age the company is \u201cnot proposing that any roles be replaced by AI as part of these changes\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we continue modernising our systems and tools \u2013 including through this proposed strategic partnership \u2013 newer technologies like AI will naturally play a bigger role in helping deliver faster, more intuitive experiences for customers,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201c… Impacted employees will be offered redeployment opportunities within Telstra and Accenture, however if that\u2019s not possible and\u202fpeople leave\u202fTelstra International they\u2019ll\u202fhave\u202faccess to leading\u202fretrenchment\u202fbenefits\u202fand\u202fa\u202frange of support services.\u201d<\/p>\n
Telstra International has more than 3,000 employees globally and operates various telecommunications and digital infrastructure, including subsea internet cables and more than 600 data centres.<\/p>\n
\u2018This is not traditional outsourcing\u2019<\/p>\n
The proposed changes at Telstra International would see the division benefit from \u201cAccenture\u2019s experience in simplifying and modernizing complex operations\u201d, Stasko suggested to staff. <\/p>\n
Accenture already has a $700 million AI-focused joint venture with Telstra that the two companies announced in January 2025, which has since seen job cuts of its own.<\/a><\/p>\n Describing Telstra International\u2019s new partnership with Accenture, Stasko told his colleagues, \u201cThis is not traditional outsourcing.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, he described it as \u201ca transformation partnership\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe aim is to strengthen how things work behind the scenes, while we keep clear ownership, accountability, and governance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Stasko argued Accenture\u2019s expertise was needed due to \u201ccomplex and inefficient processes\u201d inside Telstra International, including \u201cmanual workarounds and operational backlogs\u201d which had slowed its work and, in some cases, extended the time taken to fix faults.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve looked carefully at what it would take to fix this on our own,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reality is that transforming these processes internally would take years, delaying the improvements our customers and people need now.\u201d<\/p>\n Stasko argued the changes would put Telstra International \u201cin a stronger position to simplify how we work, cut through complexity and stay competitive\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe proposed transformation is intended to accelerate the modernization of our delivery and assurance operations and improve the experience we provide to our customers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n International cuts just the latest at Telstra<\/p>\n Telstra cut more than 1,000 jobs<\/a> in the second half of 2025 while recording a $1.2 billion profit, with hundreds more cuts expected in 2026.<\/p>\n Information Age reported in February on Telstra\u2019s plans<\/a> to cut more than 600 Telstra Enterprise staff in the current financial year, as well as around 200 jobs from its joint venture with Accenture \u2013 in which some roles were to be offshored to India.<\/p>\n Telstra has since confirmed around 200 jobs were cut from its Accenture joint venture, following consultations.<\/p>\n \u201cThose impacted employees are currently in the redeployment window for opportunities within Telstra and Accenture and these have yet to be finalised,\u201d the company’s spokesperson said.<\/p>\n \u201cTelstra has also identified additional redeployment opportunities with an Australian industry partner and this has been communicated to our people and unions.\u201d<\/p>\n Telstra previously signed a deal with Indian ICT consultancy giant Infosys in 2025, which ceded control of roughly 650 workers<\/a> from Telstra\u2019s services arm, Versent Group.<\/p>\n In July 2025, the telco confirmed previous plans to cut around 550 roles<\/a> across its business as part of an \u201congoing reset\u201d of Telstra Enterprise \u2013 which had already seen many roles cut in its consulting arm<\/a>, Telstra Purple.<\/p>\n Several Australian technology companies have recently announced layoffs while increasing their use of AI and automation, including the likes of Atlassian<\/a>, Afterpay<\/a>, WiseTech<\/a>, and the Commonwealth Bank<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Telstra\u2019s international arm is proposing to cut around 160 roles as it seeks to reduce \u201cmanual steps\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":651404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,105],"class_list":["post-651403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/651404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}