BT to axe 55,000 jobs

The British telecoms giant will reduce its global headcount by around 40%, including about 10,000 jobs replaced by artificial intelligence.

The company employs around 130,000 staff but plans to reduce that number to between 75,000 and 95,000 by the end of the decade, it said in an announcement made alongside BT’s full-year results.

The group saw a 5% rise in full-year adjusted core earnings of £7.9 billion but free cashflow fell 5% to £1.3 billion, at the lower end of its guidance as a result of higher capital expenditure. 

The statement said the cuts will include both employees and third-party contractors. 

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Chief executive Philip Jansen said AI is a key part of the company’s technological transformation plans.

He stressed that new technologies drive new jobs in the end, but that this will be at the "second stage". 

BT will be working with its union partners throughout the job cuts and would also rely on natural attrition.

Jansen said: “We have delivered our outlook for FY23: this year we’ve grown both pro forma revenue and EBITDA for the first time in six years while navigating an extraordinary macro-economic backdrop. Over the last four years we have stuck firmly to our strategy and it’s working.

"Openreach is competing strongly and it’s clear that customers love full fibre. The Openreach Board has reaffirmed its target to reach 25 million premises with FTTP by the end of 2026 and plans to further accelerate take-up on the network. 

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"In Consumer we’re delivering for customers with strong growth in FTTP and 5G, and we’re also seeing green shoots in B2B with a return to revenue growth in the final quarter in Global and the creation of our newly integrated Business unit.

"By continuing to build and connect like fury, digitise 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. New BT Group will be a leaner business with a brighter future."

On Tuesday, Vodafone announced it will axe 11,000 jobs from its global workforce over the next three years as the company moves to restore growth in the business.

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