BT to slash workforce by up to 55,000 before 2030, with AI replacing 10k jobs
BT has revealed plans to significantly reduce the number of people working for the telecoms group as part of efforts to cut costs and bolster profitability, with artificial intelligence (AI) due to replace thousands of roles.
While outlining annual results, the company said it saw its “total labour resource” being reduced from 130,000 to between 75,000 and 90,000 by the end of the decade under a “rolling plan”.
It said the numbers affected – 55,000 at the top estimate – included its own employees and third-party contractors.
The company added that the total current workforce of 130,000 people included 30,000 non-staff.
It did not provide a breakdown in its estimates of how many direct employees would be affected by the cuts but BT hoped the reduction could be completed mostly through natural attrition rather than redundancy.
Chief executive Philip Jansen told investors he expected that AI technology would replace around 10,000 roles.
He said that after its fibre roll-out is completed and digitising the way it worked more broadly, BT would rely on a much smaller workforce and significantly reduced cost base by the end of the 2020s.
“New BT Group will be a leaner business with a brighter future,” he said.
He explained that BT would use AI to deliver better customer service and capture other business opportunities.
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Calls for pause in AI research
“We’re not going to be in a situation where people feel like they’re dealing with a robot,” he said.
“We’ve got multichannel, we’re online, we have got 450 stores, that’s not planning on changing.”
BT announced the scale of its workforce reduction ambitions just days after UK rival Vodafone revealed plans to shed 11,000 jobs.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which launched a series of strikes over pay at BT last year until an agreement was struck in November, said the company’s jobs announcement came as “no surprise”
A spokesperson added: “The introduction of new technologies across the company along with the completion of the fibre infrastructure build replacing the copper network was always going to result in less labour costs for the company in the coming years.
“However, we have made it categorically clear to BT that we want to retain as many direct labour jobs as possible and that any reduction should come from sub-contractors in the first instance and natural attrition.”
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The company had warned last year that major job losses were likely as it grappled with the impact of soaring, energy-driven inflation.
The annual results met market expectations, with a 5% rise in full-year adjusted core earnings of £7.9bn – its first growth in six years.
However, free cashflow in the year to March fell 5% to £1.3bn due to increased cash capital expenditure.
Shares opened 9% lower.
UK
Family of nine-year-old Aria Thorpe pay tribute to ‘beautiful soul’ as teen appears in court charged with murder
The family of a nine-year-old girl stabbed to death have said she was a “beautiful soul” who was brave, kind-hearted and “always put a smile on people’s faces”.
Police were called to Lime Close in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, just before 6.10pm on Monday, where Aria Thorpe had suffered a single stab wound.
The child was pronounced dead at the scene.
In a tribute released by Avon and Somerset Police on Friday, the girl’s family on her mother’s side said: “For those who didn’t have the privilege of knowing Aria, she was the most beautiful little soul – happy-go-lucky, full of light, and joy.
“She loved to sing and dance, and she took such pride in dressing up, always wanting to look just like her mummy.”
Tom Thorpe, the girl’s father, said: “It’s hard to put into words how devastating it is, our little Aria, that you’re up there with the angels looking over us.”
It comes as a 15-year-old boy charged with Aria’s murder appeared in court.
Pic: Avon and Somerset Police
Aria was a ‘precious girl’
In their statement, Aria’s family on her mother’s side said her death “has devastated us beyond words”.
“Our hearts are broken in a way we never imagined possible,” they added.
“As a family, we are holding one another close and doing everything we can to support each other through this unimaginable time.”
They said they were “truly touched by the lovely messages we have received”, before asking “that our privacy is respected, as we try to come to terms with the terrible loss of our precious girl”.
Flowers laid in memory of the young girl
‘Wacky ways and outright madness’
Mr Thorpe said: “How sad it’s going to be not hearing ‘Dad, how long left?’ on our long journeys back and forth at weekends.
He then said that Aria was “such a brave, kind-hearted and a beautiful innocent soul”, and “always put a smile on people’s faces with your wacky ways and just outright madness”.
Mr Thorpe added: “Your other little family down here in Portsmouth will forever miss you.
“We’ll miss you begging to go outside, even in the pouring rain just to have as much fun as possible in the little time we had at weekends.
“You will be greatly missed, you special little angel. A life gone far too early but I hope a life lived well. We all love you dearly. Goodnight darling.”
Teenager in court
Meanwhile, a 15-year-old boy charged with Aria’s murder appeared at Bristol Crown Court on Friday, where he was remanded.
The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, was arrested in the Somerset village of Worle at 6.19pm on Monday.
He is next due in court on 16 March 2026. Appearing via video link from youth detention accommodation, he spoke only to confirm his name.
Judge Peter Blair KC set a provisional trial date for 15 June during the hearing.
A teenager charged with the murder of nine-year-old Aria Thorpe will stand trial in June next year.
The 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named because of his age, appeared at Bristol Crown Court on Friday.
The defendant, who appeared via video link from youth detention accommodation, spoke only to confirm his name.
During a brief hearing, Judge Peter Blair KC, the Recorder of Bristol, set a provisional trial date for 15 June 2026.
The trial is expected to last two weeks.
Avon and Somerset Police were called to Lime Close in Weston-super-Mare just before 6.10pm on Monday, where nine-year-old Aria had suffered a single stab wound.
Flowers laid in memory of the young girl
The boy was arrested in nearby Worle a short time later.
His father was among those attending in the public gallery.
The teenager is next expected to appear in court on 16 March.
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