The person who used to man the frontline on Telstra Corporation's industrial tiff with its labor unions has departed from the company, according to a news statement released on Tuesday.

Telstra chief executive David Thodey thanked the company's human resources chief, Andrea Grant for the work she contributed to the telco, which he stressed "transformed the human resources portfolio at a time of enormous change in the internal and external environments."

Grant started her work with Telstra in 2005 when Sol Trujillo was the helm of the firm and at a time when Telstra was struggling to resolve its disputes with the company's labor unions over wage issues.

Trujillo allowed Grant to play a major role in dealing with Telstra's premier union, the Communications Electric Plumbing Union (CEPU), which waged an industrial war against the company in order to upgrade workers' benefits that harked back on the Howard government's Australian Workplace Agreements.

Telstra's disputes with its labor groups raged on until 2009 but the conflict considerably ebbed when Thodey assumed leadership of the firm and declared an industrial ceasefire with workers' union.

Grant's approach with Telstra's labor unions apparently failed to win many hearts from the workers' ranks, with CEPU's reaction on her exit from the firm laced with bitter criticism.

CEPU divisional president Len Cooper said on Wednesday that "the HR scene within Telstra over the last five to 10 years has been an absolute disgrace and we wish Ms Grant the best of luck."

Thodey said that while Telstra is scouring for an able replacement that would officially take over from where Grant has left, Tracey Gavegan, who currently serves as a senior executive in Telstra's human resources business unit, will temporarily dispense the functions left behind by the HR chief.