BT Group, a U.K. telecom company, will be cutting 55,000 jobs by 2030 in an effort to reduce its workforce and slash costs. The company currently has around 130,000 workers between staff and contractors, but the workforce could be reduced to between 75,000 and 90,000 in the next seven years.
Why it matters: The company plans on using AI and an upgraded infrastructure to do things more efficiently, thus not all of the employees in its current scope will be necessary in the future.
- Part of the upgraded infrastructure involves the building out of 5G mobile networks and fiber-optic broadband. Once these are built out, BT plans on cutting 15,000 jobs from the fiber-optic side and 10,000 jobs from the 5G mobile networks side, as the company will not need the same number of workers to build or service them.
- BT will slash around 10,000 jobs through means of digitization, automation and the use of AI in its processes.
- “All the equipment’s simpler and newer and more flexible, more nimble. And we’ve got AI and all the data that can help create self-healing networks,” said BT CEO Philip Jansen. “So, we’re going to be a massive beneficiary on efficiency and costs, which is why we know we won’t need all these roles in the future.”
