Qantas will eliminate roughly 850 head-office jobs and transfer key corporate functions to technology services firm Accenture under a multi-year outsourcing agreement centered in India. The cuts hit deep at the carrier's Mascot headquarters in Sydney. The decision dismantles domestic teams across finance, procurement, human resources, and marketing as the airline moves to retire cumbersome digital systems.
Phase one takes effect by mid-2027. While some specialized functions will remain on Australian soil, the bulk of day-to-day operations will shift to Accenture's overseas workforce. The move forms the backbone of a sweeping tech modernization drive designed to overhaul infrastructure and expand artificial intelligence across ticketing, scheduling, and back-office management.
Qantas Chief Executive Officer Vanessa Hudson told staff the carrier currently wrestles with more than 1,000 legacy applications that cannot communicate with one another. "Modernising these systems and connecting the data across them is the critical next step," Hudson stated, arguing the restructuring will speed up AI integration. She acknowledged the blow to staff morale. "I know this is hard news for some, and I’m sorry for the uncertainty it brings," Hudson said, adding that the overhaul aims to make the business "more efficient, so we can keep investing in our customers, our people and our future."
The backlash was instantaneous.
The Australian Services Union slammed the retrenchments as a direct betrayal of domestic workers. Union leadership contended the restructuring drains vital institutional skills out of the national carrier while offering no tangible benefit to the Australian public.
"This should be chilling to not only those workers, but all Australians, because no Australian benefits from this," said ASU New South Wales Secretary Angus McFarland. "This is jobs offshore, and this is skills offshore at our national airline."
Labor representatives also charged Qantas leadership with breaching explicit assurances delivered just months earlier. ASU Assistant National Secretary Scott Cowen said management had explicitly pledged in August that it harbored no intention to move domestic positions abroad. "Earlier this year, Qantas told us directly there was no plan to offshore any jobs," Cowen said. "Today, they’ve come out and told hundreds of staff members that their work will now be delivered mostly from people overseas."
Qantas stated that final individual outcomes remain undecided. The airline pledged to spend the coming months consulting with affected staff and union representatives, arguing it intends to minimize forced exits through redeployment, retraining, and reskilling across the broader group as the Accenture transition takes shape.