Woolworths Group

Financial Context

Illustrative wage differential: if the 500+ reported offshore roles were instead employed in Australia at average local rates, the additional cost could be in the order of ~$43M/yr (~2.5% of reported net profit). This is an estimate based on industry averages, not company-specific data.

Would this company be profitable without offshoring?

Every dollar paid offshore leaves the Australian economy — reducing local wages, tax receipts, and economic circulation. Why it matters

Financial data: FY2024. 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, Woolworths Group was reported to have 500+ offshore contractors and staff.
• This represents ~0.2% when compared to its current workforce of 203,000 (illustrative comparison only — not directly reported by the company).
• Known outsourcing partners include Accenture, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, EY.

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

The Story

• June 2026Woolworths announced it is offshoring hundreds of corporate jobs, beginning consultations with potentially affected staff on 10 June 2026. The ABC understands the cuts span the People (HR), IT and Finance teams — IT the largest share — not just IT. The roles transition into Woolworths' existing global capability hubs, including a global centre in Bengaluru, India, and operations in the Philippines; the company already runs support offices across Hong Kong, China, Bangladesh, India and the Philippines and points to 'teams located throughout Asia and longstanding managed service arrangements'. Woolworths would not confirm how many of its ~10,000 corporate staff (group total ~202,000) would be affected. A spokesperson framed it as removing complexity and driving efficiency to stay competitive; CEO Amanda Bardwell's program targets $400M in above-store support office savings. This is cost/efficiency offshoring, not an AI-driven cut — Woolworths' February results separately noted an AI rollout (two of three support-office staff using Gemini weekly), but that is not given as the cause of these redundancies. Woolworths follows Telstra (up to 650 roles in favour of jobs in India), NAB and Officeworks (Wesfarmers); its shares rose 1.75% on the news. No headcount has been publicly disclosed, so no individual layoff figure is recorded here. [ABC News — Gareth Hutchens]

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