Qantas flags digital focus after losing 40 per cent of broad marketing team in recent cuts

Qantas is understood to have lost 40 per cent of its broader marketing team in the recent savage round of job losses, with the carrier flagging a more concerted focus on digital marketing strategies going forward.

The cuts, which equate to around 40 positions, were part of a drastic series of measures announced earlier this year to reduce Qantas’s wage bill.  The airline cut 5,000 jobs, 1,500 of them from corporate positions.

It is the first time the extent of cuts to the broader marketing department, which includes corporate communications, sponsorship, events and community staff has become clear.

Olivia Wirth, Qantas Group executive manager for brand, marketing and corporate affairs, admitted the marketing department did not escape the cuts. “We were all part of it. It is a big transformation for the business but one that was needed,” she told Mumbrella.