BT Group Plans to Eliminate Up to 55,000 Jobs by 2030

In the most recent layoffs in the technology sector, British telecoms and television firm BT announced Thursday that it would eliminate up to 55,000 employees by the end of the decade to reduce expenses.
Two days after UK mobile phone giant Vodafone announced plans to lose 11,000 jobs, or one-tenth of its employees over three years, the layoffs, which account for 42% of BT’s workers, were announced. 130,000 people work for BT, including contractors.

According to a results statement, the group will reduce this to between 75,000 and 90,000 people over the following five to seven years. The bad news comes after tens of thousands of jobs were cut this year in the global tech sector, including those at Facebook’s parent company Meta, as growing inflation weakens the global economy. BT is making additional savings after reducing expenses as part of a three-year-old program.

According to CEO Philip Jansen, “BT Group will depend on a much smaller workforce and a significantly reduced cost base by the end of the 2020s.” In a results announcement, he continued that the corporation was “navigating an extraordinary macro-economic backdrop”. The streamlined organization will “digitize the way we work and simplify our structure” and “be a leaner business with a brighter future.” In order to create and operate its complete fiber broadband and 5G network, according to BT, it would not require as many employees. The company also disclosed on Thursday that its fiscal year ended in March saw a net profit increase of 50% to £1.9 billion ($2.4 billion), but the results were distorted by a special tax benefit.

However, pre-tax profit fell 11% to £1.7 billion from a year earlier, while revenue fell 1% to £20.7 billion. In the meanwhile, investors left after hearing the news. In early trading on the soaring London stock market, BT’s share price dropped by roughly 9% to 134.80 pence. The job layoffs will undoubtedly dominate headlines, according to Matt Britzman, a Hargreaves Lansdown analyst. Although extreme, the situation is not entirely unexpected given the escalating costs and thin profit margins in the larger firm.