Qantas to Cut 850 Jobs, Shift Work to India Through Accenture

Australian airline Qantas plans to cut around 850 jobs in Australia over the coming years as part of a new multi-year partnership with technology and consulting company Accenture. Some corporate functions will be outsourced to Accenture, with most of the work expected to be handled by its teams in India.

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The first changes are expected to be in place by mid-2027. The proposed changes will initially affect employees working in finance, procurement, human resources and marketing.

In an internal email to employees, Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson described the announcement as difficult news for some employees and apologised for the uncertainty it would create.

Accenture Partnership to Modernise Technology Systems

Qantas said the partnership with Accenture is aimed at modernising its back-end systems, processes and data infrastructure while increasing its use of artificial intelligence (AI).

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The airline operates more than 1,000 legacy applications developed over several decades, which were not originally designed to work together. The company believes connecting these systems and data will help simplify operations, improve efficiency and support the wider use of AI.

Qantas invests more than AUD 1 billion annually in technology. CEO Vanessa Hudson said the partnership would provide access to data and AI skills that the company would otherwise find difficult to recruit at the required pace.

Under the agreement, some services currently handled by Qantas employees will move to Accenture. Most of these services will be delivered by Accenture teams in India, while some will continue to be handled in Australia.

Qantas has not disclosed how many of the 850 affected roles will be transferred to Accenture teams or how many employees will face redundancy.

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Qantas to Explore Employee Redeployment

Qantas said it would consult affected employees and their unions before individual employment outcomes are determined.

The airline also plans to redeploy as many employees as possible into other roles across the group, including new positions being created in Australia. Reskilling, retraining and other support will also be offered to affected employees.

The announcement has drawn criticism from the Australian Services Union (ASU).

ASU Assistant National Secretary Scott Cowen said Qantas had earlier indicated that there were no plans to move Australian jobs offshore under the Accenture partnership.

However, a Qantas spokesperson denied giving such assurances to the union. The company said it had met the union several times over the previous months to discuss the possibility of moving some roles to Accenture teams in India and Australia.

The union has called for greater clarity on the proposed changes and their impact on employees.

Final Comments

The Qantas announcement highlights how technology modernisation, AI adoption and outsourcing are changing corporate workforce structures. For India, the partnership could bring additional work in finance, procurement, HR and marketing services.

At the same time, the development raises questions about job security, employee redeployment and the impact of technology-led restructuring on existing roles.