Telco giant to cut its workforce by up to 2,800 staff members

Telstra has announced plans to sack thousands of workers by the end of this year, as part of its latest round of cost-cutting measures.

Transcript

00:00This is a very hard day.

00:03Telstra says cutting 9% of its workforce will improve productivity.

00:08We also haven't been on track to deliver our cost-out ambitions.

00:14Higher than expected inflation and cost pressures, including energy costs, have made meeting

00:20this ambition more challenging.

00:22The Telco hopes to save $350 million by streamlining its business.

00:28Our focus is making sure we are supporting anyone whose job is impacted.

00:34Unions who were in EBA negotiation meetings with Telstra yesterday say they've been blindsided.

00:405pm last night, nothing was mentioned and then we get an email this morning at 8.30

00:46which was nothing more than the release to the stock exchange.

00:52Experts say traditional phone service providers are losing against the rise of digital platforms.

00:59And they've missed that boat in moving bigger into the digital media where they could have

01:04higher profits, higher margins.

01:07Telstra will meet with the Communication Workers' Union on Wednesday as it begins talks on the

01:12first 377 rolls to go.

01:16I think this is a very distressing day for a lot of people who have received this bad

01:20news today from Telstra.

01:23And we're thinking of all of the families who are impacted by these big job cuts.

01:28Wages are often one of the biggest costs of doing business, so job cuts are typically

01:33key to finding major savings.

01:36As the economic downturn deepens, this might not be the last major Australian employer

01:42to announce sweeping redundancies.