Qantas says it's a great place to work
October 29, 2010 - 4:14PM
Qantas Airways Ltd is a great place to work and there's a high demand for jobs, the airline's chairman Leigh Clifford says. Workers seeking a five per cent pay rise handed out "boarding passes" that pitched their case to shareholders on Friday outside the annual general meeting in Adelaide.
The passes said they were the face of Qantas and that the usual three per cent payrise did not take into account improved productivity, and fell short of private sector average wage increases.
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Inside the meeting, chairman Leigh Clifford told workers he was happy with how the company is managing its staff.
"You've got to recognise that it's an extremely competitive environment internationally," he said.
"Qantas is seeing more and more players competing here, so we have to ensure our cost structure is competitive."
Chief executive Alan Joyce later told journalists the airline was a "great place to work" and offered a whole range of benefits to employees.
Mr Clifford said there was a "pretty high demand for jobs".
"When you talk to employees they are pretty keen on working for Qantas.
"It's a very, very competitive business with challenging margins and we have got to make sure that we have the conditions that will attract employees retain employees."