BT will make significant cuts to its workforce in the coming years

BT Group plans to cut its total workforce by up to 42 percent by the end of the decade to cut costs. The job cuts at the UK’s largest telecom company are mainly due to the near completion of the country’s fiber optic network.

In providing its final annual numbers, BT indicated that the workforce will drop to between 75,000 and 90,000 people by the end of fiscal 2030. The company currently employs about 130,000 people, including employees hired through third parties.

CEO Philip Jansen has quietly reduced its workforce in recent years to improve earnings growth. He also wants to save 3 billion pounds (about 3.5 billion euros) in costs annually by the end of the 2025 fiscal year compared to the 2020 cost level.

BT is upgrading its national network to faster fiber-optic connections and plans to make its state-of-the-art infrastructure available to 25 million homes by the end of 2026. Once that’s done and internal systems are upgraded, the company will need fewer engineers and technicians.