Key facts
- Virgin Media O2 said £300m of the £800m savings target will come from job cuts reducing its wage bill by 30% over two years.
- The company did not specify the number of job losses; the report said it could be as many as 25% of its 16,000 workforce.
- Virgin Media O2 said most of the job losses will come from non-customer facing roles.
- The company said it halted full-fibre network investment beyond existing partner commitments; the upgrade is 50% complete.
- Virgin Media O2 said it is close to a deal with BT's Openreach to extend its footprint from 19m to potentially 25m homes.
Virgin Media O2 plans to cut thousands of jobs as part of a drive to save £800m annually by 2029, the company said, as the telecommunications group seeks to address a £22bn debt pile.
The company, jointly owned by Liberty Global and Telefónica, said £300m of the savings target will come from job cuts that will reduce its employee wage bill by 30% over the next two years. It did not specify how many jobs this equates to, but the report said it could be as many as 25% of its 16,000 workforce. Most of the losses will come from non-customer facing roles, the company said.
Virgin Media O2 said it intends to increase the use of AI tools in areas including customer service, network planning and fault management. The savings plan also includes reducing the use of contractors and reviewing suppliers and supply chain contracts.
The company has moved to reduce capital expenditure by halting investment in upgrading its network to full fibre, which is 50% complete, beyond existing commitments with partners. It said it is exploring wholesale deals to expand in areas its network does not cover, confirming reports that it is close to a deal with BT's Openreach to extend its footprint from 19m to potentially 25m homes.
Chief executive Lutz Schüler said: "While we will give a fuller update on the new strategic plan in the coming months, we are already progressing and making difficult decisions to prioritise investments and reduce costs which includes the size of our workforce." He added that "standing still and doing what we've always done is not an option".