Australia risks losing its ‘corporate brain’ if more high-value jobs keep being sent offshore
Australia risks losing its ‘corporate brain’ if more high-value jobs keep being sent offshore
Publish Date: 2026-06-17 16:13:00
Source Domain: theconversation.com
This year, some of Australia’s biggest and best known companies – Telstra, National Australia Bank (NAB), Officeworks and Woolworths – have decided to cut jobs locally, while creating more overseas. Those will mainly be in India, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Sending jobs offshore – also known as “offshoring” – is not new. For decades, companies have shifted call centres, routine processing and back office work offshore.
Now, firms are also increasingly moving other higher value roles overseas. These include technology development, artificial intelligence (AI), analytics, cybersecurity, finance, digital operations and even human relations.
These are not peripheral activities. They are the capabilities that help organisations innovate, solve problems and compete. Australian companies are not simply moving work offshore. They are globalising key parts of their corporate brain.
What’s been announced?
A series of announcements this year suggest this “offshoring” shift is accelerating among leading Australian companies.
It’s hard to give specific job numbers for each company, as some of these have come from leaks reported to the media. But here’s a snapshot of what’s been reported recently.
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Telstra (February 2026): emails shared by Telstra staff with the ABC showed up to 650 Australian jobs could go. A spokesperson for a Telstra joint venture confirmed some roles will shift to a “specialist hub” in India.
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NAB (March and May 2026): the union representing bank workers said NAB was preparing to reduce staff in its Australian business division by 170 overall, while adding 237 roles in India and Vietnam. NAB confirmed some changes are coming, but not the number of jobs impacted by the move. The Australian Financial Review has also reported NAB could expand its existing Indian and Vietnamese workforces by more than 1,000 employees.
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Officeworks (May 2026): it has confirmed some Australian jobs will go, but not the details of how…
