Bupa Australia
Private health insurer and health services provider, part of the UK-headquartered Bupa group. Not ASX-listed.
Reported Offshore Headcount
146+
reported 29 Nov 2024, Reader tip — Bupa Australia (former employee, unverified)
Estimated % of Workforce
N/A
Destination Countries
Financial Context
Estimated Wage Differential
~$12M/yr
Estimate uses avg AU employment cost of $110,000+/yr (incl. super and on-costs) vs offshore $25,000/yr (salary + on-costs). Actual figures vary by role, seniority, and location.
In Plain English
- In 2024, Bupa Australia was reported to have 146+ offshore contractors and staff.
- 🇵🇭 146+ staff reported in Philippines in Customer Support.
- 146 Australian jobs have been cut.
Based on data from public sources at the dates reported. Figures may not reflect current headcount. See sources below for full attribution.
The Story
- Reported August 2026A former Bupa employee told Offshore Watch they lost their job when the work was moved to the Philippines, and that Bupa now has a few hundred staff based in Manila. They could not confirm a total, and that figure is well above the 146 roles in the FSU's 2024 notice, which suggests the outsourcing continued beyond that round. Only the 146 the FSU disclosed is counted on this site; the rest is recorded here as an account, not a number. Bupa Australia is part of the UK-headquartered Bupa group and is not ASX-listed, so it publishes no Australian workforce breakdown of the kind an ASX annual report would carry. If you can confirm or correct the current Manila headcount, please get in touch. [Offshore Watch reader tip (unverified)]
- December 2024A separate account forwarded to Offshore Watch describes the same round from the inside, and puts it much higher. It reports that over 300 web chat employees were pulled into a last-minute meeting one morning and told they were being made redundant, with a final day of 1 April 2025 and the roles going to the Philippines. The account describes no prior warning, staff who had been at Bupa for years, and the timing landing just before the holiday season. "Web chat" and "Digital Advisor" appear to be the same job, and the timing fits the FSU notice, so this is most likely the same programme counted differently, with the union's 146 covering only the roles it was consulted on. No public source carries the higher figure, so this site still counts 146. It is a floor, not a total, and this is a good illustration of why: the gap between what a union is formally consulted on and what actually happens on the floor can be more than a hundred people. [Offshore Watch reader account (unverified)]
- November 2024Bupa announced it intended to outsource 141 Digital Advisor positions to the Philippines, along with five Team Leader roles: 146 in total. The Finance Sector Union called it devastating news for affected workers and said "BUPA has made the decision not to invest in its own employees and in local jobs", confirming it would engage directly with Bupa to ensure affected employees received their correct entitlements. [Finance Sector Union]
All facts sourced from public reporting. No editorial commentary. Click source links to verify.
Department Breakdown
| Department | Country | Headcount | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Support | 🇵🇭 Philippines | 146 | Confirmed |
Layoff Events
| Date | Headcount | Location | Department | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Nov 2024 | 146 | Australia | customer_support | Bupa announced it intended to outsource 141 Digital Advisor positions and 5 Team Leader roles to the Philippines, 146 in total, with affected staff finishing on 1 April 2025. Two separate accounts sent to Offshore Watch put the round higher: one from a former employee who lost their job in the move and says a few hundred Bupa staff are now in Manila, and another describing over 300 web chat staff told in a last-minute meeting with no prior warning. Web chat and Digital Advisor appear to be the same role, so these are most likely the same programme counted differently, with the FSU figure covering only the roles it was consulted on. No public source carries the higher number, so 146 is what is counted here. Treat it as a floor. |
Other Insurance Companies That Offshore
Other companies in insurance with reported offshore operations.
| Company | ASX | Reported Offshore | Offshore Destinations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suncorp | SUN | 4,500+ | 🇮🇳 India🇵🇭 Philippines |
| QBE | QBE | 2,383+ | 🇵🇭 Philippines |
| Insurance Australia Group | IAG | 200+ | 🇵🇭 Philippines🇻🇳 Vietnam🇮🇳 India |
| Allianz Australia | 186+ | 🇮🇳 India | |
| Medibank Private | MPL | 56+ | 🇮🇳 India🇵🇭 Philippines |
What Public Sources Say
All information below is sourced from publicly available documents and reporting. Excerpts are direct quotes. Click source links to verify.
“A former Bupa Australia employee reports that Bupa currently has a few hundred staff offshored in Manila, and that they lost their own job when the work was moved to the Philippines. The tipster could not confirm a total. The "few hundred" figure is larger than the 146 roles in the FSU's 2024 notice, which suggests more than one wave, but no number beyond the FSU figure is recorded here.”
“An account forwarded to Offshore Watch reports that over 300 web chat employees at Bupa Australia were called into a last-minute meeting and told they were being made redundant, with a final day of 1 April 2025 and the roles outsourced to the Philippines. The account describes no prior warning, staff who had been with Bupa for years, and the timing landing just before the holiday season. Unverified, and the figure conflicts with the 146 roles named in the FSU notice.”
“The FSU reported that Bupa "has announced it intends to outsource 141 Digital Advisor positions to the Philippines", along with five Team Leader roles, describing it as devastating news for affected workers. FSU: "BUPA has made the decision not to invest in its own employees and in local jobs." The union said it would engage directly with Bupa to ensure affected employees received their correct entitlements.”
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This list is not complete, and never will be
If a company isn't listed here, that doesn't mean it doesn't offshore. And every number is the lowest we can prove, so the real figures can often be higher.
Read whyShow less
This list is not complete, and never will be
If a company isn't listed here, that doesn't mean it doesn't offshore. And every number is the lowest we can prove, so the real figures can often be higher.
This started as an ASX 200 project and mostly still is. It has widened as stories landed from outside that list, so it now also covers employers that aren't ASX-listed, like Canva, Allianz Australia, SS&C and Crown Resorts, along with government departments and agencies. Companies get added when something surfaces about them, not by working through a list in order.
Australian companies are under no obligation to disclose where their work is done, and there is no register of offshored jobs. Everything here comes from something that surfaced publicly: an annual report, a modern slavery statement, a news article, a union statement, a government contract, or a tip from someone who was there.
So an absence usually means nobody has reported on that company and we haven't got to it yet, not that it keeps its work onshore. Some of the biggest offshorers say nothing at all. And because each figure counts only what a source actually stated, the real numbers can often run higher, sometimes much higher.
Every figure links to the source it came from, so you can judge it yourself rather than take our word for it. If you know something that is missing or wrong, tell us. Corrections are published, not quietly buried.
This profile reflects public information at the time of publication and may not match current operations. Is something wrong or missing about Bupa Australia? Submit a correction. We welcome input from companies, employees, and researchers.