Telstra confirms Sensis to cut 800 jobs

Australia's largest telecommunications company Telstra has confirmed that directories and advertising company Sensis will cut around 800 jobs as part of a move to restructure the business for the digital world.

Telstra today issued a statement from Sensis managing director John Allan, who said that the jobs would be cut from advertising operations, sales, management, and support as the company looks to become "a more digitally focused marketing services company".

"These changes are designed to support our growing digital business, respond to competition, and deliver improvements in the service we provide to our customers," Allan said.

"As a leader in digital marketing services and print directories serving Australian businesses, Sensis needs to remain responsive to the changing media landscape. While these decisions are difficult, they are necessary to ensure Sensis maintains its competitive position."

Allan said the restructure will see Sensis create two sales centres in Sydney and Melbourne, but the restructure will result in the reduction of approximately 800 positions in total. The company is currently discussing the changes with staff and the communications union.

"These are very difficult decisions and are never taken lightly. We are working with our people to keep them informed and to provide support for those who may be affected by the proposed changes should they proceed," he said.

In January, Telstra announced that it would look to sell a 70 percent stake of the Sensis business to US private equity firm Platinum Equity for a total of AU$454 million. Sensis will operate as a separate entity from Telstra once the deal is finalised and approved by the Foreign Investment Review Board.

The 800 jobs to go are in addition to the 648 positions that Sensis announced it would cut in February 2013. Including the job cuts in its operations division announced in September last year, Telstra has now cut around 1,900 positions in the last financial year.