Virgin Media O2 to cut thousands of jobs: report
Network operator Virgin Media O2 is expected to axe thousands of jobs as it faces growing debt of some £22 billion.
Sky News reports that the company is drawing up plans to make a significant proportion of its 16,000-strong workforce redundant in the coming months.
Citing sources close to the company, Sky noted that precise numbers had still to be finalised ahead of its third-quarter results on Tuesday (3 November), when a cost-reduction target will be confirmed based on financial figures.
The majority of the affected staff will be those in non-customer facing roles, according to one insider, while a number of senior leadership changes are already under way at the company led by Chief Executive Lutz Schüler . Schüler was in the news earlier this week when he slammed BT’s deal to buy TalkTalk out of administration, saying he is concerned the ‘backroom deal’ is being rushed without proper scrutiny.
The Financial Times reported in September that VMO2 was considering options to cut its indebtedness, including slashing its dividend and capital expenditure.
BT Group and Vodafone Three have also announced significant layoffs this year as telecoms operators seek to become more efficient because of rising cost pressures.
The report comes after banking group Natwest said it had cut a 1,000 more jobs this week as part of an AI efficiency drive. “Roles are changing. We’ve got new roles that are very much dedicated on AI, and we’ve got other roles that are being changed because of AI,” said Chief Executive Paul Thwaite.
