Vodafone Spain to axe 1,200 jobs
January 10, 2019
From David Del Valle in Madrid
The football TV war and the proliferation of low-cost packages is seeing Vodafone Spain drastically cut staff.
The company has announced a redundancy plan that will affect 1,200 out of its total workforce in Spain of 5,000. Vodafone states that the layoffs, to take effect in February and March, are the result of the obligation to reduce costs due to a fall in earnings caused by a continuous reduction of prices.
“In the current market climate, demand for services continues to grow exponentially, but this is not the case with prices,” the company stated in a press release. “Nearly 50 per cent of net new customers are associated with low- or medium-cost offers, something that obliges Vodafone to have a cost structure that is prepared to successfully compete in all segments.”
Vodafone added that the market conditions are forcing the firm to seek “a more simplified organisation model that strengthens coordination and synergies between teams.”
Vodafone has faced tough competition from its rivals Movistar and Orange, after the company opted not to buy the rights for Champions League or La Liga matches on the basis of low returns. The strategy has prompted an exodus of subscribers from their broadband internet, mobile and pay-TV services.
In the first three quarters of 2018, Vodafone has lost 361,000 mobile customers (70,000 of which were contracts), 134,000 broadband customers, and 108,000 pay-TV subscriptions. The operator has only seen positive numbers in fibre optic internet, where it has added 84,000 customers.