TelstraClear cuts 490 jobs

3.00pm

Almost 500 people will lose their jobs in the first phase of the merger of TelstraSaturn and Clear, according to a report in today's NZ Infotech.

The 490 redundancies announced today are in addition to 160 job losses, mainly in Wellington, announced just before TelstraSaturn's purchase of Clear.

Just under 1200 staff remain in the merged companies.

TelstraClear chief executive Rosemary Howard said that most of the 490 people will have gone by the end of next month -- the end of 58 per cent shareholder Telstra Corporation's financial year. Some in networks and IT areas will remain until December to assist with integration.

Jobs are understood to have been chopped across the board, NZ Infotech reported.

In February, TelstraClear said it was decentralising its Wellington headquarters into regional offices in the Auckland suburb of Takapuna, Centreport on Wellington's waterfront, and in Hereford St, Christchurch.