Saturday, October 5, 2024

Is the Telstra mass sacking a worrying sign of things to come?

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The nation’s biggest telecommunications provider has taken the axe to close to 10 per cent of its 31,000-strong workforce.

Some 377 jobs will go immediately, with a total of 2,800 jobs gone by the end of December.

“This is a hard day for many of our teams right across Telstra,” CEO Vicki Brady said as she broke the news.

Telstra’s got a rather large problem.

Many of its big corporate customers are shifting away from traditional voice calls to cheaper internet-based services provided by software companies.

The tech firms that compete with Telstra also allow businesses to manage more data — and at a lower cost.

In order to compete in the sector, analysts say Telstra will employ more robots and fewer humans.

“AI and cloud computing and robots, you know they can be far more efficient and effective in the network,” telecommunications consultant Paul Budde said.

“So therefore, what you start seeing is absolutely replacing humans [with] this new technology … that is seriously happening.”

A look into a ‘scary’ future

The bottom line is that Telstra wants to make more money and part of that is slashing costs.

Telstra said by “simplifying” its operations and cutting staff, it’ll save $350 million.

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