Australian Airline Qantas cuts 400 jobs

Qantas Airways is cutting 400 jobs, terminating 150 of its own workers and 250 contractor positions, due to over staffing at its line maintenance facility in Sydney.

Jobs were also being shed at Qantas Defence Services – which maintains the Australian Defence Force’s C130 Hercules aircraft – and as the carrier consolidated its engineering training facilities from Melbourne to Sydney.

Westpac Banking Corporation cuts 119 jobs

WESTPAC Banking Corporation has confirmed plans to send 119 technology jobs overseas to cut costs.

Those affected would be offered retraining for redeployment into roles in other parts of the bank, if possible, or receive their full benefits and entitlements.

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OneSteel to cut 430 jobs

Australian steel maker OneSteel planning to axe 430 jobs to help cut costs.

OneSteel did not indicate whether the jobs would be shed from its flagship steelworks at Whyalla, South Australia.

The company has not ruled out closing the steelworks because of weak steel demand and high Australian dollar, making overseas sourced product cheaper.

Australian airline Qantas Airways to cut 500 jobs

Australian airline Qantas Airways plans to axe 500 jobs and cut capital spending by $700 million over two years, after a bitter industrial dispute and high fuel bills halved its first-half profit.

The cuts are designed to protect profitability and an investment grade credit rating at Qantas, which suffers from a higher cost base than its Asian peers.

Australian Breadmaker Goodman Fielder to cut 300 jobs

Goodman Fielder, the Australian breadmaker, has cut 300 jobs – from Australia to New Zealand

The jobs lost so far have been mostly in the baking division in Australia but the company said cuts will extend to New Zealand in the current half year but not to the same extent.

Perpetual cuts 128 jobs

PERPETUAL has cut 128 jobs and will outsource its private wealth platform as part of a strategy to lift performance under new chief executive Chris Ryan.

Most of the job cuts were made this week from all of the wealth manager’s business units, with some managerial layers being removed.

QR to lay off 600 workers

QR National will lay off 600 workers – more than 6 per cent of its workforce – as early as next week after a strong response to its voluntary redundancy program.

Geelong call centre cuts 232 jobs

At least 232 people will lose their job at Geelong’s SalesForce call centre instead of the 163 first claimed.

Geelong mayor John Mitchell revealed the figure yesterday after seeking answers over complaints the state’s “rapid response unit” to help workers had not talked to the workforce a full five days after the news was announced, The Geelong Advertiser reports.

Xstrata Plc cut 230 jobs, shut down major coal mining section in Australia

Xstrata Plc has shut down half its coking coal production at a mine in Australia, the latest cutback by miners in the country as a slowdown in global steelmaking slashes demand for coal and other raw materials.

London-listed Xstrata suspended mining of the longwall at its Oaky Creek Number One project in the northeastern state of Queensland, it said in a statement.

Oaky Creek Number One last year yielded 6.2 million tonnes of coal out of a total of 11 million tonnes at the overall complex, Xstrata said.