British multinational telecom firm Vodafone is planning to make its biggest job cut to rein in costs, reported the Financial Times (FT). The report cited two people briefed on the discussions saying that the firm is looking to shed "several hundred jobs", most of which are located at its London headquarters.
According to the report, this round of job cuts is going to be its biggest in five years as the telecoms group seeks to rein in costs and revive its stuttering performance.
Vodafone employs about 104,000 people globally and 9,400 people in the UK. The company has come under pressure after investors called for simplifying the business structure and decentralising its global operations.
However, it is not yet clear if this job cut will have an impact on the company’s Indian counterpart. In India, Vodafone operates with Idea under the brand name Vi.
According to a Reuters report, earlier this week, Vodafone agreed to the sale of its business in Hungary to local IT company 4iG and the Hungarian state for a total of 1.7 billion euros ($1.82 billion) in cash.
The report regarding job cuts comes as Vodafone in November announced cost-saving measures worth $1.08 billion. Vodafone has said that it would cut costs after the group's deteriorating market outlook.
Last year, the company’s CEO Nick Read stepped down. According to the report during his tenure, the firm lost more than 40 per cent of its value. He was replaced by Margherita Della Valle, then Vodafone’s chief financial officer.
Vodafone said, “we are reviewing our operating model, focusing on streamlining and simplifying the group. We will say more about the changes when we announce our third-quarter results on February 1.”
The European telecoms sector has had a rough few years, with some of the largest companies, notably BT and Vodafone in the United Kingdom, Telefónica in Spain, and Orange in France, seeing their valuations halved.