Virgin Media O2 is set to cut thousands of jobs
The company, jointly owned by Liberty Global and Telefonica, announced Tuesday that it aims to save £800 million by 2029, as per a report by news agency Reuters. To hit that target, the company plans to slash its wage bill by 30%, with the bulk of the reductions focused on non-customer-facing roles. The report said that Virgin Media O2 currently employs around 15,000 people. Total revenue fell 5.7% to £2.4 billion ($3.22 billion), while adjusted core earnings slid 2.6% to £995 million.
The restructuring comes as the operator faces pressure from rival BT’s nationwide fibre rollout, as well as dozens of smaller alternative networks (“alt-nets”) winning over subscribers with faster, lower-cost broadband connections. British telecoms giant Virgin Media O2 is set to cut thousands of jobs and pull back on its fibre expansion plans as it faces fierce competition in the UK broadband and mobile markets. Firstly, it will upgrade its current cable infrastructure, using older technology, to deliver 2Gbps speeds to most customers next year. Further, any future fibre investments deemed strategically sound will be financed off-balance sheet and limited strictly to areas where alt-nets are not present.