In the next five to seven years, BT Group plans to eliminate up to 55,000 positions as it increases its use of technology to save costs and streamline its operations.
The UK telecom operator announced on Thursday that, from 130,000 currently, its overall employment would drop to between 75,000 and 90,000 by 2028–2030. This comprises BT personnel as well as independent contractors.
Up to 55,000 BT Group employees could be let go by 2030.
Tumbling of Shares
In London, business shares dropped 8%.
“By continuing to build and connect like fury, digitize the way we work, and simplify our structure, by the end of the 2020s BT Group will rely on a much smaller workforce and a significantly reduced cost base,” CEO Philip Jansen said in a statement. “New BT Group will be a leaner business with a brighter future.”
Earlier this week, Vodafone (VOD), formerly the largest mobile telecom business in the world, announced it would lay off 11,000 employees over the course of three years, or around 11% of its workforce. The business has revealed a turnaround strategy for Margherita Della Valle, its new CEO, to turn around its flagging fortunes.
According to McKinsey, European telecom companies have performed particularly poorly over the previous ten years, providing shareholders with poorer returns than their US counterparts.
For the year ending in March, BT reported a 1% fall in revenue to £20.7 billion ($25.8 billion), with growth in its fiber-optic network Openreach being “more than offset” by losses in other divisions. To $9.8 billion, its adjusted earnings increased 5% to £7.9 billion.
