Qantas says an Accenture partnership may affect 850 corporate roles.
Why it matters: The announcement could reshape corporate work at a major Australian company, but it does not confirm how many redundancies will occur. Qantas says the potentially affected roles equal about 3% of its approximately 28,000-person Australian workforce.
- About 850 Qantas Group roles are expected to be affected over the coming years, but redundancies have not been confirmed.
- Qantas says some corporate services will move to Accenture and be delivered mostly by teams in India, with some work remaining in Australia.
- The first functions named are finance, procurement, people or human resources, and marketing.
- Initial changes are expected by mid-2027, after consultation with affected employees and unions.
Qantas has announced a multi-year partnership with Accenture covering its technology systems, processes and data. The arrangement is subject to consultation with affected employees and unions, so Qantas has not said that 850 people will be made redundant.
Qantas says about 850 roles may be affected over the coming years. It describes that figure as about 3% of its approximately 28,000-person Australian workforce. The airline says some corporate services will move to Accenture and be delivered mostly by teams in India, while some work will remain in Australia. The first phase includes finance, procurement, people or human resources, and marketing, according to the company announcement.
The first changes are expected by mid-2027. That wording refers to implementation of the changes, not a confirmed timetable for transfers or redundancies. Qantas has not disclosed how many workers may be dismissed, transferred to Accenture, redeployed or retrained.
Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson called the pace of technological change “unprecedented” and said the company knew the announcement would be difficult for some employees. The Australian Services Union has called for details on affected roles, Australian-based work, retraining and redundancy terms, according to Australian Aviation.
Qantas says it has more than 1,000 legacy applications that were not designed to work together, invests more than A$1 billion annually in technology and plans to grow its Adelaide Product Innovation Centre to more than 400 roles. It also says it has created more than 4,400 operational roles since 2023, including pilots, cabin crew and engineers. These details come from Qantas rather than independent reporting.
The announcement follows earlier Australian Financial Review reporting on Project iQ, which could have shifted as many as 1,000 back-office roles to India. The available materials do not establish whether Project iQ is part of the new Accenture agreement, was replaced by it or remains separate. The earlier estimate therefore does not independently confirm the current 850-role figure.
By the numbers
- 850 - Qantas roles expected to be affected over the coming years
- 3% - Qantas's stated share of its approximately 28,000-person Australian workforce
- A$1 billion - Qantas's annual technology investment, according to the company
Yes, but: The 850 figure covers roles that may be affected, not confirmed redundancies. The final impact depends on consultation and decisions about transfers, redeployment, retraining and dismissals.
What's next: Qantas says consultation with affected employees and unions will precede the first changes, which are expected by mid-2027.