https://www.theage.com.au/business/workplace/telstra-to-cut-209-jobs-from-ai-joint-venture-offshoring-work-to-india-20260210-p5o15l.html
Telecommunications giant Telstra and consulting firm Accenture are proposing to slash hundreds of roles from their data and AI joint venture, with some work to be offshored to India.
Telstra’s $700 million joint venture, one of the biggest AI investments by an Australian company to date, said on Tuesday it proposed to cut 209 jobs.
The venture, announced in January last year, is aimed at rolling out AI capabilities across Telstra to improve its business processes, chief executive Vicki Brady saying at the time it would build specialised AI tools for its teams to “work smarter and faster”.
A spokesperson for the joint venture confirmed on Tuesday evening that it would be reducing roles “where work is no longer needed” and moving some of its work to the joint venture team in India which, they said, had advanced AI expertise and a specialist hub that could deliver Telstra’s data and AI roadmap more quickly.
“We anticipate that over time, this would result in improved cost efficiencies
and bring an enhanced experience to Telstra’s customers,” the spokesperson said. <-- In this employee's opinion, it would only be a negative enhancement.
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