Australia's Telstra To Cut 2,600 Jobs Over Next Two Years"

SYDNEY -(Dow Jones)- Australia's Telstra, said late Tuesday it plans to cut 2,600 staff from its workforce over the next two years as it pushes ahead with Chief Executive Solomon Trujillo's five year turnaround strategy.

In an email to staff, Telstra Chief Financial Officer John Stanhope said the company plans to cut 1,120 full time positions from its services division and 35 roles from its product management unit.

He said the company will cut 100 jobs in its information technology.

Stanhope said major changes to its strategy and organization in Consumer Sales & Service division will lead to a reduction of approximately 1220 positions across the group over the next two years, while around 115 staff will be cut from its Finance and Administration arm by the end of this year.

Trujillo aims to cut 12,000 jobs over the next five years, and said in November last year that he hoped to cut 6,000-8,000 positions over the next three years.

-By Lyndal McFarland, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8235-2957;
lyndal.mcfarland@dowjones.com
-Edited by Paul Dekkers

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 21st June 2006