Vodafone ‘not good enough’ so new boss cuts 11,000 jobs
MOBILE giant Vodafone is to slash 11,000 jobs worldwide after its new boss vowed to revive the firm’s fortunes.
Margherita DellaValle said the cull was part of her plan to simplify the business.
The job losses will impact Vodafone’s UK headquarters in Newbury, Berkshire, as well as markets globally.
Ms Della Valle said: “Our performance has not been good enough. To consistently deliver, Vodafone must change.
“We will simplify our organisation, cutting out complexity to regain our competitiveness.”
It comes as Vodafone reported a 1.3 per cent drop in full-year profits to a lower than expected £12.8billion.
The company also forecast little or no profit growth over the current financial year.
Former boss Nick Read, who departed in December amid concerns over the group’s performance, had unveiled plans last year to drive around £883million of cost savings.
The firm said at the time it could lead to job losses but did not put a figure on the number of roles being cut.
Vodafone has 12,000 staff across the UK, based in seven offices including its headquarters in Newbury and work hubs in London, Manchester and Glasgow.
The telecoms giant said the 11,000 job cuts would take place over three years. The group, which had around 100,000 employees throughout the world at the end of last year, has been selling off chunks of the business amid an ongoing overhaul.
In January, it finalised a deal to sell its Hungarian arm for £1.5billion to a local technology company.
And earlier this year, the company said it would cut 1,000 jobs in Italy.
This was followed by reports that full-time roles would be axed in its biggest market, Germany, which it said was “under pressure”.
The results come amid speculation of a merger between the UK arms of Vodafone and rival Three.
Matt Britzman, equity analyst at financial experts Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Lacklustre performance has been something markets have come to expect from Vodafone of late, and the full-year results didn’t buck the trend.”