Qantas to outsource 850 local jobs with most roles moving to India

10 November 2026, 01: 38 GMT. Updated 2 hours ago.

Key points

• Qantas – which employs regarding 28, 000 staff in Australia and another 4, 000 globally – stated thousands of its staff already employ AI in their daily work.
• Qantas spends more than AU$1bn (US$691m; £514m) a year on technology, she remarked, and the company's back-end systems needed to be upgraded.
• Qantas will outsource 850 local corporate jobs to consulting giant Accenture with most roles moving to India as the airline fast-tracks AI investment.
• On its new multi-year accord with Accenture, Hudson stated it was regarding "modernising" the airline's IT systems to become "more efficient".
• According to the firm, "in time", the work that Accenture takes over will be "transformed further with automation and AI".

In an internal email to staff on Tuesday, the Australian company's CEO Vanessa Hudson remarked "this is hard news for some and I'm sorry for the uncertainty it brings".

In practice, the job cuts will commence mid-2027, she stated, and start with finance, procurement, individuals and marketing roles shifting "mostly" to teams in India and "some in Australia" as the firm seeks to modernise its IT systems.

Hudson remarked the "scale and speed of change in technology and AI is something none of us has seen in our lifetime", and it was in negotiations with unions and staff on the intends.

For context, the move comes days after the airline provided a market update, flagging fare increases and flight cuts against the backdrop of higher fuel costs.

"Like every airline, we run on technology built up over decades for a different era, including more than 1, 000 legacy applications that were never designed to work together, " she remarked.

Meanwhile, the accord with Accenture means "we will redesign and simplify parts of how our corporate functions work and reduce duplication", Hudson stated, so staff can "spend more time on work that creates value for our customers and the business".

Staff affected by the job cuts will be redeployed "where possible", the firm continued, including new roles in Australia.

Qantas – which employs regarding 28, 000 staff in Australia and another 4, 000 globally – stated thousands of its staff already employ AI in their daily work. The BBC has contacted the Australian Services Union for comment.

For now, qantas to outsource 850 local jobs with most roles moving to India remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.