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Optus is to cut almost 200 jobs in another round of mass redundancies, just months after cutting hundreds of jobs.
The telecommunications giant will lay off 198 employees this week, according to the Communication Workers Union.
They include significant cuts to the company’s O-Team, which was created just three years ago to help customers install smart devices.
It is understood many employees began receiving redundancy notices on Tuesday. The Australian reported.
All affected employees who are out of work will be notified no later than 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
Almost 200 Optus employees will be made redundant from the company this week (file image of an Optus worker helping customers)
Australia’s second-largest telecommunications company began shutting down the O-Team service last month following a recent review of the company.
The team installed smart devices, including security cameras, doorbells, smart TVs and electric vehicle chargers.
Optus issued a notice through the company’s website informing customers that the O-Team wired installation service for smart devices has stopped.
Customers were informed that anyone who recently purchased an O-Team wired device that needs to be configured will still be able to install it before January 30.
The CWU has criticized the telco’s latest job cuts after 600 positions were cut last year.
“It is deeply worrying that Optus is adding another 198 redundancies to the growing list of workers left out of work in a cost of living crisis,” deputy national secretary James Perkins told the publication.
“We have seen the impacts of cuts like these with the recent Optus outage, and we will continue to see a decline in service if they continue to cut where they should be investing – in the Australian workforce and local network.”
An Optus spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the company “continually evaluates” its organizational structure to meet customer needs.
“We have recently undertaken a review and are taking steps to simplify our business while continuing to invest in those areas we know are important to our customers,” the spokesperson said.
“As part of this review, we are realigning some equipment across our business.”
The job losses come primarily from a department the telecommunications giant founded in 2021 to help customers install smart devices.
Optus laid off 600 staff in a series of mass redundancies last year, including 150 from its Adelaide headquarters last November.
Earlier that month, 10 million Optus customers were affected when the telecommunications company’s network was disrupted and phone and internet services were cut.
Chief Executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, 46, created her own public relations disaster when she went missing in action for seven hours as essential services and businesses struggled to cope.
The company said a “routine software update” caused the outage before the connection was restored about 12 hours later.
Bayer Rosmarin resigned a week after the national blackout.
The latest cuts at Optus (pictured) follow a recent review of some of its services
