Qantas will cut about 850 corporate jobs over the coming years under a new multi-year deal with consulting firm Accenture, with much of the affected work moving to Accenture teams in India. The first wave hits finance, procurement, people (HR) and marketing, and is due to be in place by mid-2027. Chief executive Vanessa Hudson told staff in an email on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, that the change is about modernising old systems and speeding up the airline's use of AI.[1][2][3]
 | |
| Announced | November 10, 2026 (all-staff email and company statement) |
|---|---|
| Announced by | Vanessa Hudson, Qantas Group CEO |
| Roles affected | About 850, over the coming years |
| Partner | Accenture (multi-year agreement) |
| First teams | Finance, procurement, people (HR), marketing |
| Where the work goes | Mostly Accenture teams in India, some in Australia |
| First wave | In place by mid-2027 |
| Main location | Head office, Mascot, Sydney |
| Qantas workforce | About 32,000 |
| Union | Australian Services Union (ASU) |
| Internal name | Project iQ |
What Qantas announced
Qantas said it had signed a multi-year agreement with Accenture "to modernise its back-end systems, processes and data, as it steps up investment in technology and AI".[2][6] As part of that deal, some services now run by Qantas's own corporate teams will move to Accenture. In Hudson's words, they will be "delivered mostly by its teams in India and some in Australia", and over time reworked further with automation and AI.[1][3][6]
The airline put the number of affected roles at about 850 across the Qantas Group, spread "over the coming years". The first wave of changes is expected to be in place by mid-2027.[1][5][6]
"I know this is hard news for some, and I'm sorry for the uncertainty it brings," Hudson wrote in the staff email. She added that "individual outcomes have not been determined" and that Qantas would work through consultation with affected employees and their union over the next few months.[3][7]
Which Qantas jobs are being cut?
These are corporate and back-office roles, not frontline flying jobs. The first phase covers four areas: finance, procurement, people (the airline's HR function) and marketing.[2][3][5] The ABC's first report listed finance, procurement and marketing, while the CEO email quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald and Information Age also names "people", so HR staff are in the first wave too.[1][3][5]
Most of the affected roles are in Sydney, at the Qantas head office in Mascot, according to the union and the Herald.[1][3] The New Daily reported that flight attendant and pilot roles were unlikely to be affected.[4]
Two big questions are still open. Qantas has not said how many of the 850 roles will be cut outright, how many will move to Accenture in Australia, and how many will go to India. It has also not said which functions come after the first four. The union says it wants exactly those numbers.[3]
Why Qantas says it is doing this
Hudson's main argument is old technology. "Like every airline, we run on technology built up over decades for a different era, including more than 1,000 legacy applications that were never designed to work together," she said.[1][6] Connecting those systems and their data is, in the company's words, "the critical next step" before it can use AI more widely.[6]
Her second argument is speed. "The scale and speed of change in this space is unprecedented and unlike anything businesses have seen in generations," Hudson said. "Leading organisations around the world are well progressed in using technology and AI to completely transform how they work, and standing still is not an option for us."[2][5][4]
On why it needs an outside firm, she told staff that "reinvention at this scale is not possible to do on our own", and that a partner gives Qantas access to data and AI skills "because we cannot hire at the pace this work needs".[3]
The way the Herald describes the model, a process is sent to Accenture in India, studied and simplified, automation is added, and then it comes back into Qantas's Australian operations later as an AI-driven function.[3] PS News reported the same idea in the company's own statement: services move to Accenture and are "in time ... transformed further with automation and AI".[6]
Is Qantas in financial trouble?
No, it is still making money, but less of it. In August, Qantas reported a 2025/26 net profit of A$1.3 billion, down 19.8% on the year before. Underlying profit before tax fell 13.8% to A$2.1 billion, even though revenue rose 7.1% to A$25.5 billion.[4][7] The ABC gives the statutory profit after tax as A$1.29 billion.[1]
Fuel is the big pressure. The jet fuel bill came in A$610 million over budget and cut A$420 million from annual profit, driven by the Middle East conflict. Qantas has cancelled a planned A$150 million share buyback and has warned fares could rise again in 2027.[4][7] In a market update on Friday, November 6, it said demand was holding up but that it would keep adjusting fares and capacity in response to fuel costs.[1][2][6]
For scale, Qantas has about 32,000 employees, so 850 roles is roughly 2.7% of the group.[2][3] That is a smaller share than the Boeing Commercial Airplanes cut of about 5% announced a day earlier, but the reason is very different: Boeing is cutting because its factories are slower than planned, while Qantas is moving office work to a contractor.
Union reaction and the "no offshoring" dispute
The Australian Services Union, which covers many Qantas office staff, reacted angrily. Assistant national secretary Scott Cowen said Qantas had told the union in August that there were no plans to offshore Australian jobs. "Today they broke that promise with 850 jobs gone, offshored, which won't come back," he said.[3][5] He also said: "Sending more jobs overseas is not in the spirit of Australia," a jab at the airline's long-running slogan.[2][5]
Qantas rejects that account. A spokesperson told the Herald: "We have never given assurances to the union that some jobs wouldn't move offshore," and said it had met the union several times in recent months to discuss roles moving to Accenture teams in India and Australia.[3] In the ABC's version of Cowen's comments, the union says it was told there was "no plan for 1,000 jobs to be offshored".[1]
The ASU's NSW secretary, Angus McFarland, called the move "absolutely outrageous".[4] The union is meeting members on site and wants three things: the number and type of roles going, how many stay in Australia, and a retraining plan plus redundancy packages that recognise years of service.[1][3]
Part of a wider wave of Australian job cuts
Qantas is not alone. The Guardian counts it as the third big corporate layoff plan in Australia in three weeks, after National Australia Bank (2,500 roles) and Canva (1,200), for about 4,550 white-collar jobs targeted in a month.[2] It comes with unemployment at its highest level in almost five years and households under pressure, as shown by consumer sentiment falling to a four-year low this month.[2]
Accenture has done similar deals with other big Australian companies. Telstra set up a joint venture with Accenture in early 2025 to speed up its data and AI plans, and later cut hundreds of jobs.[1][5] The ABC also notes reports that Coles moved up to 1,000 jobs offshore after partnering with the firm.[1] Cowen warned that without regulation, other companies would follow Qantas.[1]
This is also not the first round of head-office cuts at Qantas. The Herald reports the airline cut 400 roles and restructured reporting lines in December 2025.[3]
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| December 2025 | Qantas cuts 400 roles and restructures reporting lines (SMH)[3] |
| August 2026 | Qantas reports A$1.3 billion net profit, down 19.8%; offshoring plans under the name Project iQ first reported[3][4][5] |
| November 6, 2026 | Market update: demand resilient, fares and capacity to keep adjusting to fuel costs[1][6] |
| November 10, 2026 | Accenture deal announced; about 850 roles affected; ASU meets members[1][2] |
| Next few months | Consultation with affected staff and unions[3][7] |
| Mid-2027 | First wave (finance, procurement, people, marketing) in place[1][5] |
What happens to affected staff
Nobody has been told they are losing their job yet. Qantas says individual outcomes will be decided after consultation.[3][7] Hudson said the airline would focus on "redeployment into other roles across the group where possible, including new roles we're creating in Australia, as well as reskilling, retraining and ongoing support and care".[5][1]
For customers, nothing changes for now. The announcement is about back-office work, and Qantas has not linked it to flights, fares or the frequent flyer program.[1][6] Data handling is a fair question, though. Information Age points out that the deal comes days after Qantas said it was assessing possible data exposure from a cyberattack on a third-party travel technology provider, and a year after a breach that exposed the personal details of more than five million customers.[5]
Frequently asked questions
How many jobs is Qantas cutting?
About 850 roles across the Qantas Group, over the coming years.[1][6]
Are Qantas jobs moving to India?
Yes, many of them. Services in the affected areas move to Accenture and will be delivered "mostly by its teams in India and some in Australia". Qantas has not given a split.[1][3]
Which departments are affected first?
Finance, procurement, people (HR) and marketing.[2][3]
When will the Qantas redundancies happen?
The first wave is due to be in place by mid-2027, after consultation over the next few months. More changes follow in later years.[1][5]
Are pilots and flight attendants affected?
The cuts are in corporate roles. The New Daily reported that pilot and flight attendant jobs are unlikely to be affected.[1][4]
What is Accenture's role?
Accenture is Qantas's partner in a multi-year deal to redesign and simplify parts of its corporate functions, take over some of that work, and add automation and AI over time.[3][6]
Did Qantas promise not to offshore jobs?
The ASU says Qantas told it in August there were no plans to offshore jobs. Qantas says it never gave that assurance.[3][5]
References
- "Qantas to cut 850 corporate jobs as it moves roles overseas in Accenture deal". Stephanie Chalmers and Liana Walker, ABC News. November 10, 2026.
- "Qantas to cut 850 Australian jobs and outsource work to India under AI-driven overhaul". The Guardian. November 10, 2026.
- "Qantas to cut 850 local jobs as it shifts roles to India". The Sydney Morning Herald. November 10, 2026.
- "Qantas blames 850 job cuts on 'unprecedented' AI push". The New Daily (AAP). November 10, 2026.
- "Qantas to axe 850 jobs in AI overhaul". Information Age (ACS). November 10, 2026.
- "Qantas to slash 850 back office jobs as part of offshoring and AI partnership". PS News. November 10, 2026.
- "Qantas to slash hundreds of jobs, send roles overseas". The Canberra Times (AAP). November 10, 2026.