31 AAPT staff go in offshoring move

in brief Top-tier Australian telco AAPT has confirmed it made 31 Australian staff redundant on Friday as it shifted their jobs offshore to Manila in the Phillipines.

A spokesperson for the company confirmed a Computerworld report and postings on the forums of broadband information site Whirlpool, saying the job cuts had hit its Glebe (Sydney) and Brisbane inbound and outbound sales functions, with some 11 and 20 jobs lost respectively. However, there were no signs that the cuts were part of a wider restructure.

AAPT still had more than half of its contact centre staff based in Australia, according to the company.

The news comes as the Australian Financial Review's Street Talk column — which publishes financial speculation — reported that AAPT may have been put up for sale by Kiwi parent Telecom New Zealand, with financial advisory firm Goldman Sachs JBWere acting for the telco.