Vodafone to cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years in bid to slash costs

Mobile phone giant Vodafone has announced it will cut 11,000 jobs globally over the next three years as part of an overhaul to cut costs.

Margherita Della Valle, recently appointed Vodafone’s group chief executive, said the cut comes as part of a plan to simplify the business.

Ms Della Valle said: “Our performance has not been good enough.

“To consistently deliver, Vodafone must change.”

“We will simplify our organisation, cutting out complexity to regain our competitiveness.”

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.

The telecoms giant said the job cuts would take place over three years impacting its headquarters and local markets.

Around 12,000 staff work for Vodafone across the UK, based in seven offices including its headquarters in Newbury and hubs in London, Manchester and Glasgow.

Its global headquarters is based in Paddington in London.

The group, which had around 100,000 employees globally at the end of last year, has been selling off chunks of the business amid an ongoing overhaul.

In January, it finalised a deal to sell its Hungarian arm for £1.5 billion to local technology company 4iG.

Earlier this year, the company said it would cut 1,000 jobs in Italy, followed by reports that full-time roles would be axed in its biggest market Germany which it said is “under pressure”.

It comes as Vodafone reported a 1.3% drop in full-year earnings to a lower-than-expected 14.7 billion euros (£12.8 billion) and forecast little or no growth in earnings over the current financial year.

The group’s former boss Nick Read, who was ousted abruptly in December due to concerns over the group’s performance, unveiled plans late last year to drive around one billion euros (£883 million) of cost savings.

The firm said at the time it could lead to job losses but did not put a figure on the number of roles being cut.