PacNet offshores 22 Aussie jobs

Asia-Pacific telco PacNet (formerly Pacific Internet) today confirmed it would shift some local call centre operations to Malaysia, in a move that will affect the jobs of 22 Australian staff.

"Regrettably, this afternoon we announced that we would be consolidating all our call centres to our operation in Kuala Lumpur," the company's Australia and New Zealand chief executive Deborah Homewood told ZDNet.com.au this afternoon, following rumours of the cuts leaking onto micro-blogging site Twitter.

Homewood said the decision came as part of a reaction to the global economic crisis. "Our decision to consolidate our customer service functions was part of the measures taken to ensure that we are able to maintain the service level standards while maintaining our operational costs in multiple locations," she said.

The changes will also impact the company's Hong Kong and Singapore offices. "We're trying to protect as much as we can," said Homewood, noting the company hoped today's move would be the only changes the company would have to make.

The CEO pointed out the crisis was affecting all of Australia's business sectors, and not just the telecommunications industry. "Business in general, while attempting to remain up-beat, is taking steps to protect their businesses and also protect their customers," she said.

The news comes as reports are rapidly escalating of technology jobs being lost in companies across Australia. ZDNet.com.au has started to compile a complete reference list of the cuts here.