Speculation is mounting the Sensis arm of Telstra is about to lay off up to 500 workers, with much of the face-to-face salesforce thought to be facing the brunt of it.

A report in The Australian today claims the cuts are going to be made in the division, which produces the White and Yellow Pages directories among other things, which faces stiff competition from the likes of Google.

Last week the division reported a 12.6% drop in sales for the first half of the financial year, with print revenues facing the brunt of the impact, although digital revenues were up.

A spokesman for Telstra said they would not comment on the speculation.

It is understood the division has around 1,500 employees and has prided itself on its face-to-face sales force, as opposed to solely relying on telesales, but it is these roles which could be in the firing line.

John Allan (pictured) took over the business last year Last month Sensis acquired true Local from News Limited, which the company said would “add value to the Yellow Pages network”.