Qantas eyes outsourcing 1,000 jobs to India
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — Australia’s national carrier Qantas is considering offshoring up to 1,000 corporate roles to India under Project iQ, an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven efficiency program targeting marketing, finance, human resources, and other administrative functions through a potential partnership with Accenture.
The airline confirmed discussions with Accenture are in early stages, no formal agreement has been signed, and a final decision is expected later in 2026.
Project iQ targets back-office functions with no union representation
According to reporting by News.com.au, project iQ covers back-office corporate support functions: marketing, finance, human resources (HR), and administrative departments — not frontline operational roles such as pilots, cabin crew, or engineers.
The positions under review are primarily corporate support roles that generally carry no union representation, limiting the industrial relations exposure Qantas would face in executing the plan.
Accenture‘s potential role is to modernize operations and expand AI adoption across the affected functions, combining offshore delivery with AI-enabled process transformation rather than a straightforward headcount transfer.
The project is led by Rachel Yangoyan, Qantas’s Chief Technology, AI and Transformation Officer, with chief executive officer (CEO) Vanessa Hudson and chief financial officer (CFO) Rob Marcolina among the senior leaders overseeing the transformation program.
The Project iQ structure packages AI implementation and offshoring as a single efficiency initiative, a model increasingly common among large enterprises that makes the workforce impact harder to isolate and easier to frame as modernization rather than job displacement.
“Qantas is exploring ways to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence and advanced technologies to improve business efficiency,” the company said in a statement.
Qantas keeps adding operational jobs in Australia as corporate offshoring trend accelerates
The airline has added thousands of operational workers — including pilots and engineers — in Australia in recent years and expects to continue hiring across frontline roles, which are excluded from the Project iQ scope.
Woolworths Group has explored moving some corporate functions offshore, and Officeworks has announced plans to shift customer service roles to India and the Philippines, placing the Qantas plan within an accelerating pattern of Australian corporate restructuring directed toward India.
A final decision on Project iQ is expected later in 2026, with the affected corporate support roles carrying no union representation.
If confirmed, the transfer of up to 1,000 corporate roles to India would represent one of the largest single offshore corporate function shifts announced by an Australian company in recent years, significant within the outsourcing industry even in a market where India-directed offshoring is already accelerating.
For Australian corporate governance observers and outsourcing industry watchers, Project iQ will be a test case for how Australia’s largest enterprises frame AI-driven offshoring decisions and what regulatory or stakeholder scrutiny follows.
The absence of union representation removes one constraint, but public attention to corporate offshoring in Australia is growing alongside similar moves by Woolworths and Officeworks.
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