BT to slash 13,000 jobs to save £1.5billion

BT is planning to cut around 13,000 jobs worldwide over the next three years, as part of a £1.5billion cost-cutting strategy.

The job losses will mostly affect back office and middle-management roles, with two-thirds of the cuts affecting UK staff. BT plans to hire around 6,000 new staff to work in customer service and engineering.

The telecoms giant is also moving out of its central London headquarters in St Paul’s, despite residing there for almost 150 years. The company plans to reduce the number of locations it owns in the UK, reducing its 50 offices to 30.

“This is probably the most significant transformation we have made in the last 10 years,” said Gavin Patterson, the Chief Executive of BT. “We need to do this to be competitive in the future. If we are compared with our peers we are frankly too complex and overweight. While I recognise the pain, ultimately it is the right thing to do for the business.”