Qantas Considers Outsourcing 1,000 Jobs to India as Part of Cost-Cutting Initiative
The Australian airline is reportedly exploring partnerships to move back-office functions to India under a project leveraging artificial intelligence.
Qantas is reportedly in discussions to outsource approximately 1,000 jobs to India as part of a significant cost-cutting and operational overhaul strategy. The move, part of an initiative reportedly codenamed Project IQ, would involve transferring some marketing, finance, and human resources functions, along with other back-office operations.
A spokesperson for Qantas confirmed that the airline is in "early stage discussions" regarding the plan. "Like all organisations, Qantas has been looking at ways to accelerate the use of technology and AI to help us modernise the way we work and deliver better outcomes for our customers and our people," the spokesperson stated. "We have been exploring partnerships that have the capability to support us… but no formal agreement is in place and no decisions have been made."
Qantas emphasized its commitment to maintaining employment opportunities within Australia. The airline noted that it has already created "thousands of operational roles" domestically and anticipates adding thousands more in the coming years. The proposed outsourcing is seen as a component of modernizing operations through technology and artificial intelligence.