Australian airline Qantas is set to outsource around 850 head-office jobs to technology company Accenture under a multi-year agreement, with most of the affected services expected to be delivered by teams in India, reports 9News Australia.
Qantas is Australia’s national airline and one of the country’s major aviation companies. The outsourcing move is part of a broader plan to modernise its technology systems and prepare the business for the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the travel industry.
The first changes are expected to be implemented by mid-2027, with the initial phase covering finance, procurement, people and marketing functions.
Some of the services in these departments will move to Accenture, with most work to be handled by its teams in India and some in Australia.
In an internal note to employees, Qantas Chief Executive Officer Vanessa Hudson said the changes were aimed at simplifying operations and improving efficiency.
“I know this is hard news for some, and I’m sorry for the uncertainty it brings,” Hudson said.
She added, “They are about modernising the technology behind our business and becoming more efficient, so we can keep investing in our customers, our people and our future.”
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Hudson said individual outcomes had not yet been determined, and the company would consult affected employees and their union over the coming months.
She said, “The first phase will start with finance, procurement, people and marketing, with some of the services in these areas moving to Accenture, delivered mostly by its teams in India and some in Australia”.
Qantas also plans to redeploy as many employees as possible through retraining, reskilling and opportunities in other roles within the group.
The airline’s technology overhaul comes as it looks to address the complexity of its existing systems. Hudson said Qantas operates more than 1,000 legacy applications that were not designed to work together.
“Modernising these systems and connecting the data across them is the critical next step,” she said, adding that the changes would help the company accelerate innovation and its use of AI.
However, the outsourcing plan has drawn criticism from the Australian Services Union (ASU), which has raised concerns over the movement of jobs and skills overseas.
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ASU NSW Secretary Angus McFarland said the union believed most of the affected jobs would be at Qantas’ headquarters in Mascot, Sydney.
“This should be chilling to not only those workers, but all Australians, because no Australian benefits from this. This is jobs offshore, and this is skills offshore at our national airline,” McFarland said.
The union also questioned the company’s earlier position on offshoring.
ASU Assistant National Secretary Scott Cowen said workers had been told in August that there was no plan to move Australian jobs overseas.
“Earlier this year, Qantas told us directly there was no plan to offshore any jobs. Today, they’ve come out and told hundreds of staff members that their work will now be delivered mostly from people overseas,” Cowen said.
The union is seeking more details on the number and types of jobs affected the roles that will remain in Australia and the retraining support available to employees. It has also called for redundancy packages that recognise workers’ years of service.
Qantas said it would work through the consultation process and support affected employees, while seeking to redeploy as many of them as possible.