AI-driven job cuts on the cards for Telstra

As part of its five-year plan announcement, telecommunications giant Telstra has hinted at AI-driven job cuts, shrinking the workforce by 2030.

During Telstra’s annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday (27 May), chief executive Vicki Brady announced its “Connected Future 30 strategy”, with the overarching ambition for the company to be “the number one choice for connectivity in Australia”.

AI and the digital future of Australia were key talking points throughout the meeting, with Telstra claiming that the connectivity it provides “has got to get more sophisticated and flexible”.

“There’s no version of the future that doesn’t rely on technology,” said Brady.

“As a connectivity and digital infrastructure business with a long history of innovation, this is a massive opportunity for us.”

Speaking on its plan to further increase its AI implementation, Brady said: “We will embrace AI, as every business will need to, and we expect the pace of change over the next five years to be extraordinary.”

However, Brady revealed that this increase may come at the cost of job roles and workforce shrinkage over the next five years.

“Our workforce will look different in 2030 as we develop new capabilities, find new ways to leverage technology – including AI – and we have to stay focused on becoming more efficient,” she said.

“We will need to continue to evolve, and our commitment is to always be transparent with our employees and act with care once we are clear on specific changes.

“We don’t know precisely what our workforce will look like in 2030, but it will be smaller than it is today.”

In a statement given to HR Leader, Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) assistant national secretary Melissa Payne said that “AI-driven job cuts at Telstra are bad news for staff and customers alike and highlight the urgent need for coordinated government action on a whole-of-economy basis to protect all workers from the rapid and unregulated uptake of often untested new technologies”.

“While AI has many potential benefits, workers should have the right to a strong say in how new technology will affect their jobs and industries. We can’t sit back and let multinationals and big businesses like Telstra make all the decisions on AI,” she said.

According to The Guardian, the cuts could impact roles in customer service and software development, which have been slated as a key impact area for “autonomous AI agents”.