Vodafone-Hutchison Joint Venture to Cut 450 Jobs in Australia

­The recently merged Vodafone Australia / Hutchison Telecom joint venture has announced the closure of its call center in Melbourne and the outsourcing of the jobs to India and Tasmania.

A spokesman for Vodafone Hutchison Australia, who indicated that 380 jobs were affected, told The Age newspaper that the company would transfer an unspecified number of positions to a call centre in Mumbai and about 100 jobs to Kingston, Tasmania. The company already manages a call center in Mumbai, India that employs 1,800 people.

Service Stream, the company that was running Vodafone contract confirmed the telecom operator's plans to end the contract employing 450 in customer service and support roles starting from next month, with a complete handover by next February.

Service Stream acting managing director Michael Doery said the company would try to find new roles for the affected employees, but was unlikely to be able to accommodate them.

"We're trying to do the right thing for our staff but not give them false expectations," he was quoted as saying. In a separate move, the company announced that it would be seeking to raise AU$32.9 million from its shareholders in a rights issue. The funds will be used to improve the call center operator's financial flexibility and debt profile.

Last week, the mobile network announced plans to close several of its offices in Sydney and move the staff to a single office complex in the north of the city. The move will affect around 1,000 head-office staff.

On the web: The Age

Posted to the site on 20th September 2009