Oz telecom company to shift jobs to India after Christmas

Melbourne, Oct 27 (ANI): Crazy John's, the Australian mobile phone retailer, will be offshoring 150 jobs to Mumbai, with up to 200 employees facing redundancy after Christmas holidays.

The news was conveyed to the staff last Friday during the second anniversary of passing away of company's founder, John Ilhan's.

On the same day, the company bid farewell to another of Ilhan's long-time lieutenants, corporate sales manager George Midas. Crazy John's chief executive Brendan Fleiter also plans to retire whom chief financial officer Antony Sault will replace.

After Christmas, about 150 jobs will be offshored to Mumbai, India, where the mobile phone retailer's parent, Vodafone Hutchinson Australia, operates a call centre.

The restructuring would happen in the first half of next year, FOX News quoted sources, as saying.

The remaining Crazy John's staff to be made redundant next year would initially come from finance, credit management and customer relations, they said.

"Their tasks would be absorbed by Vodafone Hutchinson Australia," sources said.

An air of uncertainty hung over Crazy John's and GRLmobile employees in Melbourne, they said. "VHA have not given them any answers on what's in store for the future."

Crazy John's employees fear that VHA's Sydney-centric management is intent on wiping the slate clean and consolidating its operations under one roof.

A VHA spokesman declined to comment on possible retrenchments, saying "it's business as usual at Crazy John's."

Ilhan, who at the age of 42 died suddenly while on a morning walk, founded Crazy John's in 1991. (ANI)