BT has announced it will cut up to 55,000 jobs by 2030 in a dramatic cost cutting measure.
The telecoms giant said up to a fifth of the jobs cut will be replaced by emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI).
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The job losses, which will equate to almost half (42%) of BT’s entire workforce, are set to include both full-time employees and third-party contractors.
BT’s announcement comes as rising costs and disappointing financial results have pushed the company to reconsider its spending across its business groups. The UK-based telecom company said it had already achieved £2.1bn in cost savings.
BT chief executive Philip Jansen said AI will become a strong part of the company’s future vision and will help to make BT’s services faster, better and more efficient.
“Whenever you get new technologies you can get big changes,” Jansen said.
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By GlobalData“Generative AI . . . gives us confidence we can go even further,” he added.
The chief executive ensured that the changes will not have an effect on the company’s 450 retail stores and “multi-channel” approach.
“There are plenty of opportunities for our customers to deal with people at BT, plenty of people to speak to,” he said.
As well as introducing AI, BT is currently expanding its fibre network to move away from copper.
The faster and more reliable technology will remove the need for as many staff to continually maintain its network, the company said.
These cuts are not surprising, according to the Communication Workers Union, which says that new technologies and the completion of fibre “was always going to result in less labour costs for the company”.
“We have made it categorically clear to BT that we want to retain as many direct labour jobs as possible and that any reduction should come from subcontractors in the first instance and natural attrition,” the union said.
The announcement from BT follows Vodafone’s move to cut more than 11,000 roles over the next three years.
Vodafone, also based in the UK, said that profits were being impacted due to rising energy bills.
GlobalData is the parent company of Verdict and its sister publications.
