BT has announced plans to cut its staff by up to 40% by the end of the decade, potentially laying off up to 55,000 employees and contractors. According to BT CEO Philip Jansen, the company aspires to have a smaller workforce and drastically lower costs in the next years, promoting itself as a leaner corporation with a better future. BT’s emphasis on developing its fiber network, which is more reliable and requires less maintenance than the current copper network, could result in the loss of 15,000 jobs. Furthermore, the company intends to adopt more artificial intelligence solutions in customer service and to undergo general reorganization in order to cut its personnel even further. BT reported a 12% fall in profit in its most recent financial report.
Similarly, Vodafone is exploring a 10% workforce reduction, or 11,000 job cuts, over a three-year period. Margherita della Valle, Vodafone’s new CEO, claimed that the business plans to restructure its organization and solve underperformance. Vodafone expects a relatively flat fiscal year with €45.7 billion in sales and a reduction in pre-tax profits. Through organizational streamlining, the corporation hopes to recover competitiveness by emphasizing customers, simplicity, and growth.
