BRISBANE, Sydney and Melbourne will bear the brunt of job cuts within Telstra's ailing Sensis division, publisher of the Yellow Pages, White Pages and Trading Post.
The firm announced on Thursday that it was cutting almost 700 jobs and creating 50 new roles as it accelerates the transition from print to digital-focused businesses.
About 390 jobs will be axed from backroom and sales roles, with most expected to be sent overseas to Philippine or Indian call centres.
Senior and middle managers also face the axe.
Confidential documents seen by AAP show that 221 sales staff are expected to be shed from Sensis offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Hobart, Ballina, Wollongong, Newcastle, the Gold Coast, Cairns, Townsville, Geelong and Mornington.
Sensis's Brisbane office is expected to shed 47 jobs under the proposals.
The firm will also cut 47 jobs from its Sydney CBD, Parramatta and Penrith offices.
There will also be 45 jobs cut from Sensis's Melbourne office.
Adelaide will lose 35 jobs, Perth will lose 28 and nine jobs will be lost in Hobart.
A small number of staff will be axed from Sensis's regional NSW, Victoria and Queensland offices, including two in Newcastle, two on the Gold Coast, one in Ballina, one in Wollongong, one in Cairns, one in Townsville, one in Geelong and one in Mornington.
Sensis managers met with staff on Thursday to outline the changes.
The company said managers would hold one-on-one meetings with staff over the next week and sources suggest a consultation period is "open ended" but likely to take weeks, not months.
The company is yet to definitively confirm if jobs will go overseas.
It has been asked for comment.
A document distributed to staff as part of the consultation says 390 roles will be impacted by the "potential introduction of world-class partners (off-shore)" to carry out editing, production, artwork and contact centre work for Yellow Pages and White Pages.
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national secretary Paul Bastian said sending Sensis jobs overseas would be a disgraceful act - pointing to Telstra's recent record half-year $1.6 billion profit as a reason to keep them in Australia.
"It's a disgrace and they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it." Mr Bastian told reporters in Melbourne.
Former prime minister Kevin Rudd said on Friday that technology meant it wasn't always cheaper to outsource work.
"The old assumption that the only place you can do this sort of work is offshore is itself being challenged by new technologies," he told the Seven Network.
"The key question for Telstra this morning is helping each and every one of those 600-plus workers find a new job, that's a corporate responsibility."
Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said he was disappointed for the families but the changes were inevitable.
Sensis has said that the job cuts are necessary as it restructures its businesses for the digital age.
The company suffered a 12.5 per cent decline in revenue in the six months to December 2012.
The Yellow Pages print edition suffered a 21.8 per cent reduction in revenue and, at the print edition of the White Pages, revenue decreased 8.2 per cent.
But revenue at the digital editions of both businesses grew nine per cent and 42.1 per cent respectively.
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