BT to cut up to 55,000 jobs by 2030

BT Group has said it will cut up to 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade as part of plans to significantly cut costs and overhaul its workforce.

The news comes as the company reports a 12 per cent drop in pre-tax profits of £1.7bn for the year to April.

In its results for the year up to 31 March, it revealed plans to reduce its “total labour resource” from 130,000 to 75-90,000.

BT said that once its full fibre broadband and 5G network is rolled out, it will not need as many employees to build and maintain the network.

The job cuts are expected to affect BT staff and third-party contractors.

Chief executive Philip Jansen said: “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.”

Mr Jansen added that BT would be working with its union partners throughout the job cuts and would also rely on natural attrition – when an employee leaves the company but is not replaced.

He also said that BT Group subsidiary Openreach, which rolls out Ultrafast Full Fibre broadband, is performing well with customers, with the company reporting orders up 70 per cent year on year.

“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,” Mr Jansen said.

Elsewhere, BT reported that its sports joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery recorded a £123m loss for the year.

It said the underperformance has been driven by “cost of living pressures affecting the premium sports subscription market and impacts from a prolonged winter break in European club football from the World Cup”.

BT has already introduced a cost-cutting plan, which it said has achieved cost savings of £2.1bn since April 2020 against a £3bn target.

Shares in the telecoms firm were down 8 per cent in early trading on Thursday.

On Tuesday another telecoms firm, Vodafone, announced it is to axe 11,000 jobs over three years.

Vodafone chief executive Margherita Della Valle said the company’s performance “has not been good enough”.