Work from home, Telstra tells its entire Australian workforce

The move marks the biggest of the nation’s corporates to formally invoke a work from home policy for its staff.

Telstra said there had not been a case of COVID-19 in its own workforce, rather the move was a precautionary measure. Picture: AAP

Telco major Telstra has told its entire Australian-based office staff to work from home from Monday for at least two weeks amid the unfolding COVID-19 crisis.

The move, which is expected to impact thousands, marks the biggest of the nation’s corporates to formally invoke a work from home policy for its staff. The telco has offices in each capital, with its headquarters in Melbourne.

Telstra said there had not been a case of COVID-19 in its own workforce, rather the move was a precautionary measure.

At the same time, Telstra has cancelled all events and meetings of more than 25 people and cancelled all domestic air travel.

“With global events now unfolding very quickly, we’ve made the decision to move to full work from home arrangements for Australian-based office staff effective next week,” Telstra told staff in a memo late Friday.

“Telstra plays a vital role in keeping the country connected and it is important the business is flexible and ready to adapt to this evolving situation,” it said.

“These arrangements will remain in place until the end of March at a minimum”.

“This unprecedented situation requires decisive action, and it’s important we are flexible and ready to adapt to this evolving situation”.

“Getting ahead of things now will mean we are prepared should the issue escalate quickly. We need to maintain our focus on serving our customers and the essential role we play in connecting Australians”.

Telstra said some essential operations cannot be fulfilled remotely, including store and field teams, call centres, and some other functions.

“We will continue to have additional procedures and safeguards in place for teams not able to work from home,” Telstra said.