British Telecom Vodafone "10,000 Restructurings Over 3 Years"

British mobile carrier Vodafone, currently undergoing a merger and acquisition, plans to restructure about 10,000 employees over the next three years.

According to major foreign media including The Guardian on the 16th (local time), Vodafone CEO Margherita Della Valle announced in a statement that the company will cut 11,000 jobs over three years. This amounts to 10% of Vodafone’s total workforce of 100,000 employees, marking the largest layoff in Vodafone’s history.

Additionally, CEO Della Valle expressed willingness to sell Vodafone’s Spanish operations. However, she left room for other options, including structural changes.

Della Valle, who took office this month, emphasized, “We have not achieved sufficient performance,” and added, “We will simplify the organization and eliminate complexity to regain competitiveness.” Her predecessor, Nick Read, resigned at the end of last year after the company’s stock price fell more than 40% during his four-year tenure. This year, Vodafone cut 1,000 jobs in its Italian operations, and there are possibilities of similar scale layoffs in Germany.

Vodafone, the third-largest player in the UK mobile market, is in the process of acquiring Three UK, the fourth-largest. The acquisition price is about ?15 billion (approximately 25 trillion KRW), and the merger is reported to be in its final stages. If the two companies combine, they are expected to surpass British Telecom and become the market leader. However, financial conditions are challenging, and Vodafone announced a cost-cutting plan worth €1 billion (about 1.45 trillion KRW) last November.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.