ALMOST 400 Telstra jobs appear to be heading overseas, as it emerged that Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne will bear the brunt of deep cuts within the telco's Sensis division, publisher of the Yellow and White Pages.
Sensis announced on Thursday that it was cutting almost 700 jobs from its 3500-strong staff and creating 50 new roles as it accelerates the transition from print to digital-focused businesses.
About 390 jobs will be axed from backroom and sales roles, with most expected to be sent overseas to Philippine or Indian call centres.
Confidential documents seen by AAP show that 221 sales staff are expected to be shed from Sensis offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Hobart, Ballina, Wollongong, Newcastle, the Gold Coast, Cairns, Townsville, Geelong and Mornington.
Sensis's Brisbane office is expected to shed 47 jobs under the proposals. The firm will also cut 47 jobs from its Sydney CBD, Parramatta and Penrith offices. There will also be 45 jobs cut from Sensis's Melbourne office. Adelaide will lose 35 jobs, Perth will lose 28 and nine jobs will be lost in Hobart.
A small number of staff will be axed from Sensis's regional NSW, Victoria and Queensland offices, including two in Newcastle, two on the Gold Coast, one in Ballina, one in Wollongong, one in Cairns, one in Townsville, one in Geelong and one in Mornington.
Most of the jobs appear destined to be sent overseas.
Sensis documents outlining the changes said 390 roles would be impacted by the "potential introduction of world-class partners (off-shore)" to carry out editing, production, artwork and contact centre work for Yellow Pages and White Pages.
A Sensis spokesman did not deny the jobs were being moved abroad but said nothing had been finalised.
He added: "What we announced yesterday was a proposal that would see about 391 back-of-house fulfillment and customer care roles outsourced but no decisions have been made or vendors chosen to provide those services."
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national secretary Paul Bastian - pointing to Telstra's recent record half-year $1.6 billion profit - said sending Sensis jobs overseas would be a disgraceful act.
Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said he was disappointed for the families but the changes were inevitable.
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