Telstra could cut up some 6,000 jobs over the next three years as part of its cost efficiency drive.
The company plans to slash around 15% of its workforce, sources told the Australian Financial Review. They added that a further 1,000 jobs could go through natural attrition.
The operator has doubled its redundancy bill to A$220 million ($213.9m) this year to cover the cuts, which will start at management and back-office roles but then move on to front-end staff, the sources said.
While Telstra has admitted that jobs would go, the company has refused to confirm the 6,000 figure and said it has not yet decided how many would be cut.
Telstra has already flagged a possible 900 job cuts for the financial year ending in June 2011, and in July cut 330 senior and middle management positions, including 30 reportedly on high six-figure salaries.
The operator employed some 57,000 staff in 1998, but this had fallen to 40,000 as of the start of 2010.
Telstra yesterday revealed details of Project Net, it A$1 billion corporate change project to reduce costs and improve customer service.
The operator needs to counteract pressure on its profits, which shrank 4.7% in FY10, and 9.8% in FY09.
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