World Morning Star
Virgin Media O2 cutting thousands of jobs in cost savings overhaul
VIRGIN Media O2 confirmed plans today to axe thousands of jobs in Britain under aims to slash £800 million worth of costs a year by 2029. The telecoms giant said the bulk of the cost savings, about £3
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The telecoms giant said the bulk of the cost savings, about £300m, will come from job cuts among its 16,000-strong workforce in Britain.
And the company aims to reduce its staff costs by around 30 per cent as it battles intense competition and a mounting debt pile.
Virgin did not confirm how many roles will go, but said most of those affected would not be customer facing.
Details of the scale of the cost-cutting came after weekend reports revealed jobs were under threat across the company.
The firm has already been cutting senior leadership positions and the overhaul is expected to largely focus on head office, IT and support functions.
Contractors and suppliers will also be reviewed as part of the cost reductions.
The group also said it would ramp up the use of artificial intelligence to “support faster decision-making and delivery.”
CWU assistant general secretary Stephen Albon said the announcement “will undoubtedly leave members feeling stressed and worried about their long-term job prospects.”
He added that the union wants to work with the company to mitigate these losses and urged the company to explore a voluntary approach to them.
Prospect union’s deputy general secretary Noel McClean called the scale of the cuts “devastating” for staff and will significantly impact business operations.
Virgin Media O2, jointly owned by Liberty Global and Telefonica, said there were no plans to close any of its British offices, which include sites in Paddington, Reading, Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow.
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