Yahoo Finance Qantas looking for 8,500 Aussie staff: ‘Great time to join’
Qantas will hire thousands of Aussies over the next decade, after laying off staff during the pandemic.
Qantas is on the hunt for 8,500 Aussie staff over the next decade, after announcing a record $1.43 billion half-year profit.
More than 2,000 of those jobs - which will include roles for pilots, engineers, cabin crew and airport staff - will be hired in the next 18 months.
The national carrier currently has 23,500 employees but is planning to grow its total headcount to 32,000 people by 2033.
Also read: Thousands of Qantas international seats up for grabs
Also read: Qantas’ plea to rehire former staff: ‘Different circumstances’
Also read: Qantas reveals $5 billion reason airfares are sky high
“We order aircraft up to 10 years in advance, so we need to think similarly long-term about the people and skills we need to operate them,” Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said.
“Over that period of time, we’ll create an estimated 8,500 new aviation jobs in Australia, and most of those jobs require years of training... Over the next 18 months, we expect to create more than 2,000 new jobs, plus replacing natural attrition. So, if you’ve ever wanted to work in aviation or at the national carrier, now’s a great time to join.”
Qantas also announced it would open an engineering academy in 2025, which would train up to 300 engineers per year.
Last week, Qantas delivered a record $1.43 billion half-year profit off the back of increased demand from Aussies post-pandemic and sky high airfares.
Thousands laid off during COVID
Qantas laid off more than 8,500 staff during the pandemic. It also outsourced around 1,700 ground-handling jobs, which the Federal Court ruled as illegal - a decision Qantas has appealed to the High Court.
The Transport Workers’ Union said the new hires would not replace the decades of experience lost during the pandemic.
“In 2020, Qantas’ overzealous redundancies saw 300 of the most experienced pilots vacate the airline,” the union said.
“Qantas is attempting to bring back cabin crew on lower pay and conditions than they previously had at the airline, an echo of the inferior jobs advertised in Qantas Freight shortly after illegally sacking nearly 1,700 ground crew to pay people less to do the same work.”
Qantas recently emailed former cabin crew members to see if they would consider coming back to the company.
Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to our free daily newsletter.
