WA jobs to go in restructure at Iona

GLOBAL IT group Iona Technologies is closing its Perth office to consolidate its Australian operations in Sydney.

Two staff will be left working from home in Perth when the CBD office shuts shortly, leaving up to 15 people out of work.

At least seven others will be relocated to NSW

Iona used to have a much bigger workforce in WA, but it has already reduced the engineering side of the business.

Once heralded as a leading example of where Perth’s opportunities lay in the global technology field, Iona had used the WA centre as part of its 24 hour world coverage which allowed problems in any part of the world to be worked on around the clock.

But a world downturn in IT services has changed the environment for the company.

Massachusetts-based Iona spokesman Steve Casey said the decision had been made to reduce back-office costs by relocating work to the company’s existing Sydney office.

“Ninety per cent of revenue in Australia comes from the east coast customers,” Mr Casey said.

He said the move would allow improved service to those customers.

Sydney will also handle Asian customer service for the group.