Optus lays off 150 staff at Adelaide call centre

Telecommunications company Optus has laid off about 150 employees at an Adelaide call centre.

The Optus staff were told on Wednesday morning their employment would end in four weeks.

Workers told 7NEWS the company’s decision came as a shock, as some of them had only been hired and trained about three months ago.

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The call centre employs a total of about 400 staff members.

Some employees have been with the company for 25-years.

Optus has recently undertaken a review to “simplify” its operations.

“As part of this review, we are realigning teams which will impact some roles across our business,” the company said

“This has been a challenging decision to make, but necessary to strengthen our Business.”

Optus said it will redeploy some individuals whose roles have been made redundant.

But it would not confirm the number of staff affected by the decision.

Staff who spoke to 7NEWS said they can’t understand the move, given Adelaide is one of Optus’s top-performing call centre locations.