New South Wales and Victoria will be hit the hardest by the 1,400 job cull flagged by Telstra, a move unions describe as an "ambush" on workers.
The telco giant on Wednesday said it will sack around 1,400 employees within the next six months as part of a drive to become "leaner" in the face of growing pressure on earnings from the rollout of the national broadband network and aggressive new competitors.
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Telstra axes 1400 jobs
The telecommunications company is expected to make a formal annoucement after it has notifed staff. Vision courtesy ABC News
Almost 90 per cent of the cuts will come from NSW and Victoria, while roughly 172 workers will be culled from Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland combined, Telstra spokesman Jon Court said.
Mr Court said the restructures will affect most parts of the company including Telstra's retail, operations, government enterprises and services and, to a smaller extent, its media and marketing sectors.
The Communication Workers Union says it will meet with Telstra later on Thursday in a bid to reverse the number of jobs set to be shed.
CWU national president Shane Murphy said the cuts had been in the works for months with no inclination provided to workers.
"We were simply ambushed," he told AAP on Thursday.
"Workers were caught by surprise turning up to work thinking it will be business and usual and then finding out hours later a number of their colleagues will not have employment over the next few weeks."
![Almost 90 per cent of the cuts will come from NSW and Victoria.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170617000746im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/r/8/i/m/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwrjqi.png/1497525903409.jpg)
Mr Murphy said some workers were notified in a teleconference on Wednesday while others simply received an email from the chief executive.
"It has been poorly planned, poorly handled and we believe the CEO has a lot to answer for," he said, adding workers were feeling "vulnerable".
![Andy Penn said Telstra could succeed but "cannot afford to operate as we have always done".](http://web.archive.org./web/20170617000746im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/p/y/q/8/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwrjqi.png/1497525903409.jpg)
It is understood workers in positions that are to be cut will have the option of applying for available jobs within the company or taking redundancy.
If they fail to acquire a new role, they can still take redundancy.
Mr Court said retrenched employees could receive up to 80 weeks redundancy pay based on years of service.
Telstra chief executive Andy Penn told reporters on Wednesday the cuts were to keep up with changes in technology, competition and migrating to the NBN.
The telco is facing a $2 billion to $3 billion hit to its annual earnings by 2020 due to lost compensation payments and the access fees it will pay to use the NBN.
It has also committed to spending an additional $3 billion on upgrading its network over the next three years to maintain its competitiveness.
Mr Penn on Wednesday said Telstra could succeed but "cannot afford to operate as we have always done".
"This isn't about a billion dollars' worth in savings but, obviously, we will continue to make better focus on productivity improvements," he said at a press conference.
AAP