Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) will cut 411 call centre jobs in the face of falling profits.
In a statement to Fairfax Media, Telstra is believed to be axing 273 full-time positions and 276 agency staff in response to falling profits.
"However we are creating 138 new roles and 11 roles will transition from Ballarat to Melbourne," a spokesperson told the Australian Financial Review. "This would result in a net loss of 135 Telstra roles."
Over the past year, analysts have grown concerned about increasing competition for mobiles and other fixed line products (e.g. broadband) from competitors such as TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) and M2 Group Ltd (ASX: MTU). Telstra's 2015 profit was down 3.5% from its 2014 result.
The fall in Telstra's 2015 profit came despite the telco's decision to cut more than 1,700 jobs over 2 years.
However, on Thursday, Telstra said it expected to report revenue of more than $26.6 billion and free cash flow between $4.6 billion and $5.1 billion in its 2016 financial year. It said EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) would experience 'low-single digit growth'.
Telstra shares have underperformed the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) by 5% in 2015, falling 8% in total.
