BT to cut 10,000 jobs but BT Vision going strong
November 14, 2008
UK telco BT has announced it will be cutting 10,000 jobs following a gloomy Q2 report. The company said it had already cut 4,000 jobs, leaving a further 6,000 to go between now and March, adding that it was not planning any compulsory redundancies. BT said it was reducing its dependence on consultants and contractors, cutting those jobs by 12 per cent whereas direct staff numbers will come down by 4 per cent.
BT, which has a global workforce of 160,000, said it will achieve the reduction in its direct staff largely through natural turnover, pointing out that reductions in previous years have been through voluntary schemes.
The announcement came as BT reported an 11 per cent fall in second quarter pre-tax profits to £590 million (E748m). Revenues were 4 per cent higher at £5.3 billion.
Meantime, BT Vision added a further 58,000 subscribers on the quarter taking the IPTV service into a total of 340,000 households.