Telstra area general manager Bill Mundy announcing the job cuts in February. PICTURE: JEREMY BANNISTER
D-DAY is looming for almost 80 local Telstra employees who will be axed early next month.
Telstra, which announced in February that 78 "back room" jobs at their Gillies Street office would go, have revealed the date as April 14.
But the organisation couldn't provide the exact job loss figure, with a spokesman saying factors such as voluntary redundancy and redeployment within Telstra meant the figure could be significantly less.
There are 128 Telstra employees in Ballarat.
Telstra area general manager Bill Mundy said in February that the cuts would affect 64 local employees before he revised the figure to include 28 full-time Telstra staff and 50 agency or consultancy staff, a total of 78.
Mr Mundy said the reason for the cuts was productivity-related and aimed at reducing duplication in the organisation.
"We will work as hard as possible to find other roles within the business - and for those who wish to exit the business, we will work with them as they depart as well," he said in February.
Mr Mundy this week said those efforts had been positive,
"Some people in Ballarat have already been successful in securing roles in other areas of Telstra. The team has also been given the opportunity to apply for an additional 52 roles in other areas of Telstra," he said.
"The recruitment process for the 18 new roles as part of the restructure is still underway. These roles are only open to people within the affected team.
"Paperwork for the redundancy process was handed out last Wednesday, March 4. People who are either unsuccessful, or are not interested, in securing another role will exit the business on April 14."
Mr Mundy said a number of the consultancy staff had already secured further work in the business and had been redeployed to other areas.
Originally published as Telstra jobs to go by April 14 by The Courier.