Four-hundred and forty jobs are to be cut from Optus’ workforce in the coming two months as the company moves toward automating and digitising administrative processes.

In a company wide email on Wednesday morning, Optus staff were informed of the telco’s plan to restructure.

“To realise our vision to become a world class, digital service provider that puts our customers at the heart of everything we do, we are making further changes to our organisational structure,” read the email from Optus chief executive Allen Lew.

Lew writes that the restructuring aligns with Optus’ corporate dogma, IDAHO (I Drive Accountability and a Healthy Organisation).

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that at the end of June, Optus had about 8370 staff including retail employees, with a core staff of around 2000. Last year over 300 jobs were cut from the business.

“We will also be introducing new and different ways of working to remain competitive and continually deliver game-changing customer experiences,” continued Lew.

In May of this year, Optus announced the culling of 400 positions from its administrative and management departments as the company continued to automate processes. In the same month, Optus cut a further 200 jobs and closed 36 retail locations while shutting down its subsidiary brand Virgin Mobile.

An Optus spokesperson told Marketing, “We are speaking with affected employees first, and discussing redeployment opportunities where available.”

“Optus management is showing clear contempt for its workforce by continuing to slash hundreds of jobs with absolutely no consultation with the workforce,” says CEPU Communications Union national president Shane Murphy. “While they’ve been sitting at the table with the union to bargain for a new Enterprise Agreement.

“Optus has now axed over 1000 jobs in four months. This is a disgrace.”

Optus declined to comment on the number of marketers in the organisation that will be affected by the restructuring decision.

Further Reading:

• Floptus apologises for ‘balls up’ World Cup coverage with full page advert »
• Job growth is on the rise, but who’s getting hired? Mary Meeker Report 2018 »

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