LONDON (AP) — U.K. telecom company BT Group said Thursday that it plans to shed up to 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade as part of an overhaul aimed at slimming down its workforce to slash costs.
BT, which has 130,000 workers including both staff and contractors, said in its latest earnings report that its number of employees would be reduced to between 75,000 and 90,000 by 2030.
“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. "New BT Group will be a leaner business with a brighter future.”
Tech and telecom companies have been cutting jobs as the industry undergoes a painful shakeup amid flagging economic growth and surging inflation.
U.K.-based wireless carrier Vodafone, which operates in Europe and Africa, said days earlier that it’s laying off 11,000 workers as part of a major revamp.
BT, a former state monopoly previously known as British Telecom, said that once its fiber-optic broadband and 5G mobile networks are fully rolled out, it won't need as many workers to build and maintain them.
Jansen said BT would work with union partners as part of the job cuts and also rely on attrition.