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Virgin Media O2 to cut thousands of jobs amid debt and competition
Virgin Media O2 plans thousands of redundancies from a 16,000-person UK workforce, the BBC reported, citing people familiar with the plans. The company declined to comment.
Virgin Media O2 is preparing to cut thousands of jobs as it tries to reduce costs, the BBC reported on Sunday, saying the broadband and mobile company has not yet set a final number but that a large share of its roughly 16,000 employees could be affected1.
The company declined to comment1. Prospect, which represents VMO2 staff, said the cuts were "disappointing and very unsettling"1. Deputy general secretary Noel McClean said the union would work with the employer to limit redundancies and to retrain or redeploy people who lose roles1.
VMO2's latest accounts showed £27.2 billion of debt and £45.9 billion of assets as of June 301. The BBC said the firm also faces cheaper independent fibre networks and a stronger BT after UK regulators allowed BT to buy TalkTalk, a combination VMO2 opposed after its own bid for altnet Netomnia via nexfibre was blocked1. BT said its TalkTalk deal provided a safety net for customers of a provider that faced collapse without a takeover, according to the BBC1.
Sky News, cited by the BBC, reported that most jobs at risk would not be customer-facing and that contractors and suppliers would also be reviewed1. The BBC said it had been told VMO2 is close to agreeing to use BT's fibre network and is highly likely to say it will stop investing in its own fibre when it reports results on Tuesday1.