Telstra has announced it will outsource part of its IT services to Deloitte Consulting Consortium, cutting around 340 jobs as part of an overall push to slash thousands from its workforce.

However, the company claims affected staff will be offered positions with the new provider.

The IT outsourcing deal with Deloitte is part of the overall planned reduction of 10,000 Telstra jobs announced earlier this year.

"It's part of our overall reduction of staff, it is part of the numbers," Telstra Business Procedure and Information Managing Director Dwight King said.

However, "reducing our costs, reducing our time to market and improving the quality of services is the key factors," he said.

The IT service areas to be outsourced to Deloitte Consulting Consortium - which is lead by Deloitte Consulting and EDS Australia - include billing software maintenance and development and the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) stream, which encompasses finance, personnel and administrative IT systems.

In the billing services area, job losses will affect 250 staff, and a further 90 staff in the area of ERP. According to King, most of the jobs lost are based in Melbourne.

However, "the provider is offering positions to 100 percent of our staff," King said.

Telstra is currently outsourcing additional IT services to IBM Global Services Australia. Telstra staff face further job cuts as the outsourcing program is extended.

"There will be a reduction in Telstra staff with the opportunity to move to the provider," King said.

However, King told ZDNet that no definite commitments had been made to confirm staff would retain their jobs with IBM.

"I do not have commitments on that yet, however it is part of the continuing discussions," King said.

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