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Qantas has moved to tamp down speculation that it is planning to send hundreds of back-office jobs to India as part of a broader AI overhaul of its operations.
Responding to reports in The Australian that it was working with consultancy firm Accenture on the plan dubbed “Project iQ”, a spokesperson for the Flying Kangaroo said discussions were still in early stages and no firm decisions had been made.
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“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 said.
“We have been exploring partnerships that have the capability to support us and are in early-stage discussions with Accenture, but no formal agreement is in place and no decisions have been made.
“We have added thousands of operational roles in Australia in the past few years including pilots, cabin crew and engineers and will hire thousands more over the coming years. We also have a technology hub opening in Adelaide next month, with more than 400 roles to be based there.”
The Australian Services Union (ASU) has called on Qantas to rule out offshoring “up to 1,000 marketing, finance, human resources and other back-office roles”.
According to national secretary Scott Cowen, while the airline’s assurances that there are no plans to do so are “welcome”, the union will still “fight for every job”.
“What’s been reported today is that the airline is considering a proposal by Accenture, that’s not in dispute. What matters is that Qantas has informed that there is no plan to offshore any Australian jobs, and we demand the airline stay true to these commitments,” he said.
“If that commitment from Qantas turns out to be worthless, it won’t just be a broken promise to the ASU. It will be a deep breach of trust with the Australian public who have stuck by this airline through everything it has put them through.
“We will fight to protect all Australian jobs at the airline. We’ll be watching closely, and we’ll work tirelessly to ensure that Australian consumers can rely on the high-quality services provided by the Qantas workforce here at home.”
The news follows speculation about Qantas’ AI strategy earlier this year, which prompted a “please explain” from the ASU.
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