Skip to footer
Cell Tower in Stykkishólmur
Photo: Illustrative image — Photo: Kevin Kandlbinder, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

business

Virgin Media O2 to cut thousands of jobs and halt planned upgrades in bid to reduce costs

Virgin Media O2 to cut thousands of jobs and halt planned upgrades to reduce costs

Updated 3 min read

Key points

  • Virgin Media O2 expects cost savings of £800M by 2029, with £300M coming from staff cuts.
  • The firm has not finalised the number of roles to be cut, which the BBC understands could be a sizeable chunk of 16,000 staff.
  • Competition from cheaper altnets such as Hyperoptic and Community Fibre is adding pressure on the broadband provider.

Why it matters. Job cuts and reduced contractor use could lower the company's costs, while the firm faces fierce competition from cheaper altnets and a pending CMA decision on its Netomnia deal in December.

Virgin Media O2 is set to shed thousands of roles as it looks to save around £300m. The BBC understands the cuts could be a sizeable chunk of its 16,000-strong workforce, and most affected staff are in non-customer-facing roles. The Prospect union called the cuts disappointing and very unsettling, while the firm, with £27.2bn of liabilities against £45.9bn of assets as of 30 June, declined to comment.

Latest updates

Virgin Media O2 to cut thousands of jobs and halt planned upgrades in bid to reduce costs

Thousands of Virgin Media O2 staff are facing redundancy as the telecoms firm attempts to save money in the face of billions of pounds of debt and tougher competition. The broadband provider has not finalised the number of roles to be cut but it is likely be a sizeable chunk of its 16,000-strong workforce, the BBC understands. Virgin Media O2 has billions in debt on its balance sheet and is tackling both smaller providers as well as giants like BT, which has agreed a deal to acquire rival TalkTalk, which Virgin Media O2 has firmly opposed. The company declined to comment. Prospect, a union which represents Virgin Media O2 staff, said the cuts were "disappointing and very unsettling". Noel McClean. deputy general secretary at Prospect, said the union was "committed to supporting our members through what is a difficult time, as well as also working with employers to explore ways to mitigate the number of redundancies and ensure retraining and redeployment of staff affected". The majority of the affected staff are in roles that are not customer-facing and a number of senior leadership changes are already under way, the BBC has been told. Virgin Media O2 is also expected to review its use of contractors and suppliers in conjunction with the job cuts. As of 30 June, Virgin Media O2's total liabilities stands at £27.2bn while it holds assets worth £45.9bn, according to the firm's lat.

BBCBbcThe RegisterNewsWikipedia: Virgin Media O2

Virgin Media O2 to cut thousands of jobs, saving £800m

Virgin Media O2 will cut thousands of jobs from its 16,000-strong UK workforce as part of a plan to save £800m a year by 2029. The telecoms company, jointly owned by Liberty Global and Telefonica, says about £300m of those savings will come from job cuts that lower labour costs by around 30 percent. It has not confirmed how many roles will go, but says most affected jobs are not customer facing and will be concentrated in head office, IT and support functions. The firm will also cut its use of contractors, review suppliers and expand its use of artificial intelligence tools. The group carries more than £22bn of debt and lost 23,300 broadband and 7,800 consumer mobile customers in the three months to September. Chief executive Lutz Schuler said standing still is not an option, and a fuller strategic update will follow in the coming months.

The GuardianVirgin Media O2ISPreview UKBroadband TV NewsBBCindependent.co.ukstandard.co.ukthisismoney.co.ukSky NewsFinancial TimesThe TelegraphTechRadar

Sources