The Guardian: Qantas Plans to Cut 850 Australian Jobs in an AI Overhaul With Accenture

Qantas plans to cut about 850 corporate jobs in Australia and move some of the work offshore under a new multi year agreement with the professional services firm Accenture, The Guardian reported on November 10. The airline says the deal will modernize its back end systems, processes and data as it steps up investment in technology and artificial intelligence.

For anyone working in a corporate support role, this is one of the clearest recent examples of how AI programs are reshaping white collar work.

What Qantas Announced

According to The Guardian and ABC News, the first cuts will fall on finance, procurement, human resources and marketing teams. Some of the services those teams deliver will be outsourced to Accenture and handled mostly by its teams in India, with some work remaining in Australia.

Chief executive Vanessa Hudson announced the plan in an email to staff. "The scale and speed of change in this space is unprecedented and unlike anything businesses have seen in generations," she said, as reported by The Guardian. She added that the decision was not a reflection of employees' contribution or commitment.

Hudson told ABC News that the airline runs on more than 1,000 legacy applications that were never designed to work together. Qantas said it would consult staff and unions before final decisions are made, would try to redeploy as many people as possible, and expects the first changes to be in place by mid 2027. The group has about 32,000 employees.

The Union Response

The Australian Services Union reacted sharply. Assistant national secretary Scott Cowen told ABC News that the union had been told months ago there was no plan to offshore jobs. "So this is really shocking news for our members," he said.

Cowen told The Guardian that the cost of technology change should not be borne by workers who have kept the airline running for years. He also called for regulation, warning that other companies could follow the same path.

Part of a Wider Pattern

The Guardian noted that this is the third major corporate layoff plan announced in Australia in three weeks, after restructuring moves at Canva and National Australia Bank. Across those three companies, about 4,550 corporate roles have been targeted for cuts, relocation or restructuring in the past month.

ABC News reported that Telstra and Coles have also struck outsourcing arrangements with Accenture that affected local jobs. Investors welcomed the Qantas news, with the airline's shares rising more than 6 percent on the day.

What It Means for Your Career

The roles named in this announcement are the classic back office functions: processing invoices, managing suppliers, running payroll and HR administration, and producing marketing operations work. These are the tasks most exposed when a company consolidates old systems and adds automation.

If you work in one of these areas, three steps are worth taking now.

Move Closer to Judgment Work

Tasks that follow a fixed process are the easiest to automate or outsource. Work that requires judgment, negotiation, stakeholder management or interpreting messy data is harder to move. Volunteer for the projects that involve decisions, not just processing.

Learn the Systems That Replace the Old Ones

Every modernization program needs people who understand both the old processes and the new platforms. Employees who help design, test and run the replacement systems often become the ones a company works hardest to keep.

Know Your Rights in a Consultation

Qantas has said it will consult before decisions are final. In any restructuring, find out what your employment contract, workplace agreement and local law say about consultation, redeployment and redundancy pay. Union representatives and HR can explain the process.

What Comes Next

Qantas has not said exactly which roles will go or when each change will take effect beyond the mid 2027 target for the first changes. The consultation with staff and the union will shape the details.

For professionals everywhere, the lesson is practical rather than alarming. Companies are pairing AI programs with outsourcing to cut corporate costs, and the people best placed to stay are the ones who make themselves part of the new system rather than the old one.