BT sheds 7,731 jobs since March as profits rise 12%
BT’s workforce has fallen by 7,731 to 90,000 since the end of March, excluding its international business, most of the cuts falling at Openreach, the company said with half-year results that showed pre-tax profit up 12% to £1.1bn in the six months to September. Shares rose as much as 6% to a five-year high. Headcount is down 11,712, or 11%, on a year earlier, and stood at about 130,000 including contractors two years ago.
Allison Kirkby, the chief executive, said: “Our UK-centric strategy and transformation is clearly delivering with £312 million of annualised savings achieved in the first half, as we continue to simplify and modernise.” BT is folding its international operations into a joint venture with Verizon and has bought TalkTalk for £400m, taking on about 900 staff and 2.5 million households; Openreach’s full-fibre network now passes 24.1 million homes against a 25 million target. The Guardian says the group is aiming for 75,000 to 80,000 staff by the end of the decade and a cost-savings target raised to £3.7bn by 2030, while the Independent reports a post-separation workforce of 65,000 to 70,000 and a target trimmed to about £3.5bn a year — different bases for the same plan, so no single end-point figure is given. Ms Kirkby was paid £5.6m last year, with the shares up about 70% since she took over. Rival Virgin Media O2 is cutting thousands of jobs in an £800m savings drive. Neither report carries a union response.