UK telco giant BT to cut up to 55,000 jobs by 2030 as fibre and AI arrive
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BT's total number of workers is expected to reduce from 130,000 to between 75,000 and 90,000 by its 2030 financial year at the latest.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – BT Group, Britain’s biggest broadband and mobile provider, will cut up to 55,000 jobs including contractors by 2030 – potentially more than 40 per cent of its workforce, as it completes its fibre roll-out and adapts to new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).
The company has been working through a transformation plan to build a national fibre network under boss Philip Jansen, as well as rolling out high-speed 5G mobile services.
The former state monopoly on Thursday reported pro forma revenue and core earnings growth for the first time in six years in the year to end-March, but the cost of transforming the business and the hit to its free cash flow took a toll, sending its shares down more than 8 per cent in early trade.
Mr Jansen said that after completing the fibre roll-out, digitising the way it worked, adopting AI and simplifying its structure, BT will rely on a much smaller workforce and significantly reduced cost base by the end of the 2020s.
“New BT Group will be a leaner business with a brighter future,” he said.
The group’s total number of workers will reduce from 130,000 to between 75,000 and 90,000 by its 2030 financial year at the latest, it said. Some 30,000 of its current employees are contractors.
By that time, the bulk of its full-fibre network build will be completed.
On the full-year results, Mr Jansen said BT has made good progress while navigating an “extraordinary macroeconomic backdrop”.
It met market expectations with a 5 per cent rise in adjusted core earnings of £7.9 billion (S$13.2 billion) after growth in its network and consumer businesses offset a decline in enterprise.
But free cash flow fell 5 per cent to £1.3 billion, at the lower end of its guidance, due to increased cash capital expenditure. Forecasts for free cash flow for 2024 were also lighter than analysts had expected.
Barclays said: “We expect a negative share price reaction on the lower FCF (free cash flow).”
The group’s network arm, Openreach, reaffirmed its target to reach 25 million premises with ultra-fast full-fibre connections by the end of 2026.
BT said it expects to grow both revenue and core earnings on a pro forma basis this year. REUTERS
