Aussie ICT layoffs: the scorecard

update Australia's ICT industry is being hit hard by the global economic crisis, with many companies laying off staff or entering hiring freezes in the past few months. We'll track the cuts on an ongoing basis in this complete list.

Some companies, like Telstra, Commander and Optima, were losing staff regardless of the crisis, due to other business issues that have, in Commander and Optima's cases, forced the companies to close their doors.

Others, particularly the local arms of global companies such as eBay and EDS, have taken part in global cuts by retrenching some local staff.

But mainly Australian firms like UXC and Optus have also cut staff, while some, such as SMS Management and Technology, have simply reduced their hiring plans.

Internationally, the last few months have seen dramatic cutbacks at the likes of Nortel, Symantec, Xerox, Nokia, Yahoo and Dell, to name a few. It's unclear yet how many have done the same locally without disclosing the cuts.

Fortunately, the hiring climate in Australia's technology industry remains buoyant, with recruiters still trying to build up their banks of skilled workers looking for employment.

This table was last updated on 30 January, 2009.

Company
How many
Date
Further reading
eBay 18 07/10/2008 eBay Australia fires 18 staff
HP/EDS 450 Three-year plan HP/EDS Australia expect to cut 450
Optus 115 20/10/2008 Optus confirms 115 jobs to go
Cellnet Undisclosed 31/10/2008 Cellnet cut jobs in restructure
UXC 12 04/11/2008 Layoffs hit UXC
KAZ (Telstra) 100 24/09/2008 Kaz to fire 100 staff
Telstra 800 18/09/2008 800 sacked as Telstra integrates BigPond
Elders 40 06/08/2008 Elders staff fired as telco arm closed
Engin Undisclosed 05/08/2008 Bleeding Engin bandages wounds
Freshtel Undisclosed 29/08/2008 Freshtel's VoIP dreams turn into a nightmare?
Commander Undisclosed Ongoing Union targets Commander leftovers
Optima Undisclosed 23/10/2008 Optima shut down, assets auctioned off
Yahoo!7 About 10 18/08/2008 Job cuts hit Yahoo!7
National Australia Bank 443 Ongoing NAB confirms further IT job cuts
PacNet 22 14/11/08 PacNet offshores 22 Aussie jobs
Alphawest 33 01/12/08 Alphawest lays off 33
Ericsson 300 02/12/08 Ericsson chops 300 A/NZ workers
IBM Unclear 02/12/08 IBM laying off 2,600 Asia-Pac workers?
3 Mobile Unclear 02/12/08 Contractors go from 3 Mobile
Integ (UXC division) 6 04/12/08 UXC's Integ cuts staff by six
Goldman Sachs JBWere About a dozen 03/12/08 Goldman Sachs cuts IT jobs
ANZ Bank Unknown 08/12/08 ANZ silent on Xmas IT staff cuts
Dialog Unknown 09/12/08 Aussie IT firm Dialog sheds staff
Oakton Single digit % 11/12/08 Oakton joins layoff list
Websense 25 03/12/08 Websense shuts Sydney R&D team down
Logica Unknown 15/12/08 Logica Australia in job cuts
Lenovo Unknown 08/01/09 Australia will feel Lenovo cuts
Vodafone NZ About 20 15/01/09 Redundancies hit Vodafone NZ
Nokia Siemens Networks Less than 15 16/01/09 Australian Nokia-Siemens jobs head offshore
AMD Unknown 19/01/09 AMD job cuts to hit Australia
Microsoft 1 23/01/09 Microsoft cuts skip Australia
Citrix Unknown 29/01/09 Citrix cuts to hit Australia

Any we've missed or should know about? Drop us a line and let us know. We'll keep everything confidential.

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Talkback 35 comments

    Data#3 Anonymous -- 11/11/08

    Data#3 retrenched 20+ about a week ago

    Missing Fat Baby Goose -- 15/01/09 (in reply to #320116071)

    Why is D3 missing from the table?

    VzB Anonymous -- 11/11/08

    Verizon Business, 20+ locally, 180+ globally

    Verizon Business - MARKED AS SPAM BY AKISMET Renai LeMay -- 12/11/08 (in reply to #320116085)

    hi there,

    FYI we called Verizon Business in Australia and they denied they were making any local layoffs, they said it was "business as usual".

    Anyone who knows any more about this, please feel free to drop me a line at renai.lemay@zdnet.com.au

    Cheers!

    Renai LeMay
    News Editor
    ZDNet.com.au
    02 8514 9907

    Verizon Business Renai LeMay -- 12/11/08 (in reply to #320116085)

    hi everyone,

    FYI we called Verizon Business in Australia and they said they were not laying off any staff, and it was "business as usual".

    Can anyone with any further information please contact me?

    Cheers,

    Renai LeMay
    News Editor
    ZDNet.com.au
    renai.lemay@zdnet.com.au
    02 8514 9907

    Verizon Business Anonymous -- 14/11/08 (in reply to #320116166)

    My husband works for Verizon, they have not laid off anybody, whoever made the original comment is not telling the truth.

    Verizon Business Anonymous -- 16/12/08 (in reply to #320116302)

    Not laid off anybody....yet! ;-)

    Things change so quickly! Anonymous -- 12/11/08

    So glad I didn't take that job I was offered at KAZ about 3 months ago...

    Scorecard Anonymous -- 12/11/08

    Not a great scorecard if half of them are undisclosed...

    Aussie ICT layoffs: the scorecard Anonymous -- 12/11/08

    Why is it that when asked what a company's most valuable asset is you're told 'Staff'. But when a company is in trouble the first ting that is cut is this supposed most valuable asset?

    Company Assets Anonymous -- 12/11/08 (in reply to #320116140)

    Because it is all about the pretend "Core Values" these companies promote to the unsuspecting customers when the reality is very different internally.

    Company's most valuable asset... Anonymous -- 29/01/09 (in reply to #320116140)

    Oh, the most valuable assets are the staff alright. In particular, management and executive staff.

    absolutely Anonymous -- 30/01/09 (in reply to #320121828)

    I have seen no detail of any senior manager from any of the companies having being retrenched. Imagine if a few of the MD's on 400- 500K were retrenched how much better the bottom line would be, especially considering their management got the company to where it is!!!

    Whats happening at ERG ? Leaky Boat -- 17/11/08

    Announcement was on the ASX this morning. What's happening ?

    ASG Group laid off a bunch a few weeks ago Anonymous -- 18/11/08

    ASG Group laid off a bunch of staff a few weeks ago. Mainly staff from Syd office, but also some from Melb and a few from Perth HQ..

    http://www.asggroup.com.au/

    ICT Layoffs Anonymous -- 20/11/08

    It would be interesting to see who has been hiring (if any)

    Data3 Anonymous -- 25/11/08 (in reply to #320116660)

    Here is one for you. They retrenched AD/Exchange engineers , and now have a 3 month contract on offer for an AD/Exchange person, listed on seek, go figure that one for excellence in planning and foresight

    Is that legal Anonymous -- 27/11/08 (in reply to #320117044)

    I thought a retrenched position was one that was no longer required, how can they advertise for a person to fill a role that should no longer exist, does anybody have a legal opinion on this??

    Is that Legal Anonymous -- 03/12/08 (in reply to #320117253)

    No Its not legal if the company has over 100 staff and the role has not changed by more than 40%. It may only be in title that there are similarities but if not then this is a case of unfair dismissal and can be questioned through the Industrial Relations Tribunal.

    I would be asking to see the position description and the renumeration package on offer to qualify though.

    Were is the honesty ? ... Anonymous -- 03/12/08 (in reply to #320117845)

    I used to work in Pacific Internet and they promised "no more layoffs , no changes" when those guys in Hong Kong bought us in September last year. This was their big pitch "we love you, trust us" !

    Our CEO got canned after 1 month and the entire management team got forced out over the following 3 or 4 months ... not one person is left from the old team.

    They fired a lot of guys in March this year and then promised no more redundancies then they fired 22 guys in Newcastle last month who were doing a great job.

    If they were honest last year people could have found new jobs and got on with their lives ... can we sue them for not telling us the truth ?

    Not surprised Anonymous -- 08/12/08 (in reply to #320117845)

    I know a few of the permie staff there and they are not surprised that senior management at D3 are less than honest. It seems a number of retrenched staff were hired back on contract to do the same job they were retrenched from.

    Not Quite True Griff -- 30/01/09 (in reply to #320117044)

    That contract position was probably advertised by the recruitment arm of D#3, not the PS business where the people were let go.

    And no senior AD/Exchange people were let go anyway.

    Macquarie jobs axing Anonymous -- 09/12/08

    With the recent round of jobs gone at Macquarie Bank there has been very little on how much is IT and how much is business.

    I do know that 1 Macquarie staffer layed-off last week tried suicide over the weekend. This is just another example of how little emphasis Banks and other companies honour the "STAFF ARE OUR ASSETS" MO and pay little attention to the impact this has against personal circumstances of the people affected and the timing of making these judgement calls.

    Tragic Layoff man -- 09/12/08 (in reply to #320118402)

    Unfortunately becoming a common story - I too have friends that foolishly opted to remain in IT and some of them have tried to top themselves during the last few months.

    Layoffgossip Layoffgossip -- 19/12/08

    People always hate to talk about when they are laid off. But as it has become every day's news headline since Yahoo started it with cutting 1500 of its task force last year, now a need of platform has been in demand where people can express their selves in words how they are feeling about their company, whey the got laid off was that justified or not.
    And every thing they want to tell anonymously.And www.layoffgossip.com is providing you that platform.

    Tecala laid off 3 in November Anonymous -- 13/01/09

    Tecala, Gluteo Serafim's new company laid off a third of the project team in November.

    This despite having been on a hiring trip in the earlier months

    Peter Peter -- 22/01/09

    There have been far more layoffs in the finance and mining industries. In WA at least two mines have closed down and these two cases alone account for several thousand of jobs. Then there's the myriad other jobs in geological consulting, exploration, etc. that have dried up. The situation is similar in the banking and finance sector.

    ICT should stop feeling sorry for itself and realise it's actually doing very well compared to most!

    TOOL and DYE industry Anonymous -- 27/01/09 (in reply to #320121426)

    Any layoffs in tools and dye industries

    Sorry Renai LeMay -- 27/01/09 (in reply to #320121690)

    hey there,

    sorry, ZDNet.com.au doesn't follow those industries (only the ICT industry) -- I have no idea how they're going :(

    Cheers,

    Renai LeMay
    News Editor
    ZDNet.com.au

    Mining not as fraudulent as IT emma -- 27/01/09 (in reply to #320121426)

    Finance and mining don't have industry associations that claim they face huge skill shortages, even now.

    Construction Anonymous -- 30/01/09 (in reply to #320121704)

    The construction industry has also dried up in a huge way, only it doesn't get reported as "layoffs" because it tends to be subcontractors who don't get laid off, they just don't get new contracts.

    Di Data Fat Baby Goose -- 29/01/09

    I heard DD retrenched 40 - 80 today across Australia

    John Grant's Bulldust Fat Baby Goose -- 29/01/09

    From the recent D3 ragazine

    Almost every person that I have talked to in every organisation that I have visited over the last three months has been affected in some way, shape or form by the global financial crisis – even if only in terms of sentiment. Maybe your organisation is concerned about sales forecasts declining. Maybe your
    organisation is considering deferring investment in projects. Or maybe your organisation has or is contemplating the difficult
    decision to let some of your people go. As President Obama said, “The challenges we face are real.” It’s hard not to agree
    with him! But the thing that will set organisations apart moving forward isn’t the challenges they face, but how they face up to those challenges. Without telling you ‘how to suck eggs’, in times like these, it isn’t enough to do business as usual. It is time to strengthen focus on being more effective whilst maintaining and increasing efficiency. It is time to focus on significant projects that deliver value quickly. It is time to focus on generating positive
    outcomes.

    What a lot of crap the very first thing he did was retrench people from his organisation! But now they have a marketing campaign reality never happened they knee jerked a reaction before marketing kicked in

    redundancies Anonymous -- 12/08/09

    was made redundant today despite westpac ceo saing no more jobs will be made redunadant due to unemployment rate. was deemed an operational efficiency lol to come in line with global management structure going to India despite their lack of communication and productivity. Indians.. they can't even review there own work due to culture

    Union? Anonymous -- 12/08/09 (in reply to #320205459)

    Are you in a Union?

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