Telstra has announced plans to reduce its workforce by 8,000 employees and contractors, as part of a sweeping reform package
Telstra has announced plans to reduce its workforce by 8,000 employees and contractors, as part of a sweeping reform package.
The telecommunications giant released the HR plans today during the announcement of its new strategy to reduce its cost base.
Telstra CEO Andrew Penn said while the strategy would involve some short-term challenges for its HR team, it would ultimately eliminate many pain points for customers.
“We will take a bolder stance and use the disruption in the telecommunications industry to lead the market for the benefit of our customers, employees and shareholders,” Mr Penn said.
The HR staff at Telstra will be tasked with the unenviable responsibility of reducing the workforce by 8,000, including removing one in four executive and middle management roles to flatten the structure.
“We are creating a new Telstra that is able to continue to lead the market. In the future our workforce will be a smaller, knowledge-based one with a structure and way of working that is agile enough to deal with rapid change. This means that some roles will no longer be required, some will change and there will also be new ones created,” Mr Penn said.
“We understand the impact this will have on our employees and once we make decisions on specific changes, we are committed to talking to impacted staff first and ensuring we support them through this period.”