Qantas sends 300 jobs to India
Qantas is set to axe 300 information technology workers in Australia and send their jobs to India. The carrier has shortlisted two Indian companies to take over the work, saying it was impossible to find enough high-tech expertise in Australia to carry out computer systems maintenance, Fairfax newspapers report.
In July it shortlisted two Indian companies, Tata Consulting Services and Satyam, to take over the work.
A review of IT jobs is almost complete, and an announcement is expected this month.
Jobs at risk are in the internet operation that deals with holiday bookings, frequent-flyer programs, operational logistics, crew and engineering operations, and financial and payroll systems.
Rejecting the carrier’s justification for the move, The Australian Services Union (ASU) assistant national secretary Linda White said: “To say there are not the skills here already is crap. They are asking our people how to do it.”
Ms White said it’s “pretty outrageous” for an iconic Australian company like Qantas to be sending highly paid, highly skilled jobs offshore, “particularly as the jobs are such an important part of the Qantas operation”.
01/10/06 NEWS.com.au