Qantas will cut 850 jobs in Australia and outsource some corporate functions to consulting firm Accenture, the airline said on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, as it adapts to the growing use of artificial intelligence in the industry.

The first phase of the cuts will affect staff in finance, procurement, human resources and marketing. Some roles will shift to Accenture and be performed by teams based mostly in India, although some work will remain in Australia. The jobs will be cut “over the coming years”, with the first round to happen by mid-2027.

In an email to staff, Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson said: “Today we’re announcing a new multi-year partnership with Accenture and changes that will affect parts of our corporate functions.” She added: “I know this is hard news for some, and I’m sorry for the uncertainty it brings.”

About 3% of the Australian workforce

The cuts affect around 3% of Qantas’s Australian workforce of 28,000. Individual outcomes have not yet been determined, and the airline said it would consult affected employees and their union over the coming months.

The partnership is intended to help Qantas “redesign and simplify parts of how our corporate functions work and reduce duplication”, Hudson said. The airline is seeking to modernise more than 1,000 back-office systems and cut costs amid high fuel prices and rapid technological change.

AI at the centre of the overhaul

Qantas said the move was a response to rapid changes in the industry driven by artificial intelligence. “The scale and speed of change in technology and AI is something none of us has seen in our lifetime,” Hudson said. “Standing still is not an option for us.”

Under the partnership, some roles will be offshored to Accenture’s teams in India, some will remain based in Australia, and others will “in time be transformed further with automation and AI”, the airline confirmed.

Profit reported months before the cuts

The announcement comes months after Qantas reported a 2025/26 net profit of $1.3 billion, down 19.8% on the previous year. Plans for the offshoring, known internally as Project iQ, were first reported in August, when an internal memo discussed outsourcing up to 1,000 jobs.

Qantas is the latest in a growing number of large Australian companies to move workers offshore to cut costs and improve efficiency. Woolworths, Officeworks, Telstra and National Australia Bank have announced similar moves this year.

The Australian Services Union, which represents the affected workers, had previously sought assurances that Qantas had no plan to offshore the roles.