Officeworks to Open Global Capability Centres in Philippines and India, Retaining Majority of Australian Roles

Officeworks will replace its Sydney-based customer service centre staff with a call centre in the Philippines and plans to base hundreds of other staff in India in coming months, Abc reported. The company said the new offices in Manila and Bengaluru would operate as fully integrated extensions of the Australian business and enable access to global talent as it increased reliance on AI.

A website for Officeworks' global capability centre is advertising about 50 jobs in technology and digital transformation, some of which require up to 15 years' experience.

One current employee, who asked not to be identified, said staff with 20 years' tenure at the business were dismissed in an online meeting. "There was no send-off celebration funded by the business, only a digital card which got emailed around for people to send messages to," the employee said.

An Officeworks spokeswoman said the majority of roles, including in-store and fulfilment centre jobs, would remain in Australia and that the company was preparing to open new stores around the country.

The company declined to respond to further questions about staff concerns. In response to the ABC's initial story, Officeworks managing director John Gualtieri emailed all staff, saying the company valued "doing the right thing" and wanted to be as transparent as possible with employees.

The ABC has also been contacted by an employee of the Officeworks-owned brand Geeks2U, whose local staff have been going through a redundancy process.

The person said Geeks2U staff saw their jobs advertised in Manila before staff consultation was complete. The ABC understands Geeks2U office staff and over-the-phone technical support will be based in Manila, and it will contract Australian workers for in-person visits.

University of Sydney retail expert Lisa Asher said Officeworks parent company Wesfarmers was putting shareholders above Australian workers.

"It is a short-term solution to a profitability issue that's going to have long-term implications on employment options for people in Australia," she said. 5 billion in the half year to December 2025. Officeworks managing director John Gualtieri announced earlier this year that the company needed a strategic shift to make it viable.

Ms Asher rejected suggestions Australia does not have the right talent base to build artificial intelligence models here. "We certainly have those AI development skills here," she said. NSW Finance Minister Courtney Houssos told the ABC the decision by Officeworks was unfortunate.

"It's always disappointing when companies make decisions to move jobs offshore," she said. Many companies, including Australian firms, have begun to open hubs called global capability centres in the Indian city of Bengaluru, which has a concentration of workers with skills in artificial intelligence and technology.