Qantas to cut 850 Australian jobs and outsource work to India under AI-driven overhaul

Qantas said it will cut 850 Australian jobs and outsource some work offshore under an AI-driven overhaul. It signed a multi-year agreement with Accenture to modernise its back-end systems, processes and data, and some services will move to Accenture's India-based team.

The initial cuts will fall on finance, procurement, human resources and marketing staff, out of about 32,000 Qantas employees. The first changes are due by midway through next year, after consultation with staff and unions.

The announcement is the third major corporate layoff plan in Australia in three weeks. Across NAB (2,500 roles), Canva (1,200) and Qantas (850), about 4,550 corporate jobs have been targeted for cuts, relocations or restructuring in the past month.

Chief executive Vanessa Hudson said the airline would consult affected staff and unions before final decisions, with the first changes taking effect by midway through next year. She said the scale and speed of change in this space was unprecedented and that the decision was not a reflection of staff contribution or commitment.

The Australian Services Union said Qantas needed to explain itself after earlier promising no jobs would move offshore. Assistant national secretary Scott Cowen said the cost of technology change should not be borne by workers and that sending more jobs overseas was not in the spirit of Australia.

The cuts come as living costs surge and unemployment has reached its highest level in nearly five years. A subdued economy and elevated oil prices linked to the Iran conflict are also pushing companies to cut costs, and Qantas has been dealing with rising jet fuel prices.