Telstra

Financial Context

Illustrative wage differential: if the 10,000+ reported offshore roles were instead employed in Australia at average local rates, the additional cost could be in the order of ~$850M/yr (~47.2% of reported net profit). This is an estimate based on industry averages, not company-specific data.

Would this company be profitable without offshoring?

Financial data: FY2024. Estimate uses avg AU cost of $110,000+/yr (salary only, excluding super, office, recruitment) vs offshore $25,000/yr (salary + on-costs). Actual figures vary by role, seniority, and location.

In Plain English

• In 2013, Telstra was reported to have 10,000+ offshore contractors and staff.
• This represents ~35.7% when compared to its current workforce of 28,000 (illustrative comparison only — not directly reported by the company).
• 🇮🇳 2,150+ staff reported in India in IT, Back Office, Engineering.
• Known outsourcing partners include Wipro, Infosys, Accenture, Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG, DXC Technology, IBM, McKinsey, Concentrix.
• 24,076 Australian jobs have been cut, with some occurring during periods of offshore expansion.

Based on data from public sources at the dates reported. Figures may not reflect current headcount. See sources below for full attribution.

The Story

• 2013Telstra revealed it had 10,000 overseas contractors — approximately 26% of its full-time workforce of 38,000. The majority were in India across call centres (run by Tata, Wipro, Infotech with nearly 2,500 people from 4 sites) and a Bangalore innovation centre with 1,000+ employees. [Delimiter]
• 2013Telstra cut 260 back-office jobs, with some sent offshore to India. [ABC News]
• 2014Telstra outsourced the functions of 463 internal positions and 208 contractor roles to Indian centres. [iTnews]
• 2018As part of the T22 strategy, Telstra announced 9,500 roles would be eliminated. 1,500 new technology roles were created — the majority filled by offshore workers in India. [iTnews]
• January 2019Telstra opened an innovation and capability centre in Bangalore for software engineering, information security, and cybersecurity. CEO Andy Penn said the company was "sourcing far more of this talent from outside Australia than from within". [iTnews]
• 2022Telstra announced it would return voice customer service calls to Australian agents, while keeping digital channels (email, chat, social media) offshore. [Matchboard]
• August 2025Telstra transferred a controlling 75% stake in its services arm Versent Group to Infosys, ceding control of approximately 650 ICT service specialists. [Information Age]
• 2025Telstra announced 442 roles would be eliminated and the work outsourced to Indian IT services provider Infosys. [Outsource Accelerator]
• January 2025Telstra announced a $700 million joint venture with Accenture to integrate AI across operations over seven years — $100 million per year. The partnership aims to 'enhance process efficiency and data utilization.' [Inductus GCC Report / Startup Daily]
• February 2026Telstra announced 800 more job cuts. 209 roles cut from the Accenture AI venture, with some work shifting offshore to India. [Information Age]

All facts sourced from public reporting. No editorial commentary. Click source links to verify.