Massive job cuts at BT
David Woods, 13 November 2008
2
2 comment's on this article.BT has announced it will shed 10,000 jobs by March 2009.
The telecommunications firm has a workforce of 160,000, of whom 110,000 are directly employed while the remainder are contractors, consultants and agency employees - known as indirect staff: 40% of the job losses will involve direct staff and 60% of them indirect staff.
BT announced this morning it has already cut 4,000 of its 160,000 jobs - mostly indirect positions - and 6,000 more will go by March.
A spokesman from BT told HR magazine the programme is to reduce the organisation's dependence on consultants and contractors.
He said: "Thousands of direct staff leave BT every year so this year it is really about us not replacing a large number of those people. In previous years, we have tended to recruit as many new people as leave but this year we want a net reduction of 4,000 direct staff. We will therefore achieve the reduction in our direct staff largely by natural turnover. We have achieved reductions in staff in previous years through voluntary schemes.
"The direct jobs are mostly in the UK, reflecting the fact that approximately 90,000 or our 110,000 direct jobs are UK-based. The indirect jobs are a mix of UK and non-UK and will depend on which exact projects we choose to proceed with in the coming six months."
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Mohit Gupta - 13 November 2008
what is the impact on India
David Woods - 13 November 2008
Thanks very much for your interest.
I put your question to BT and, in a statement, a spokesman said: "There is no breakdown [of how countries will be affected]. Of the 10,000 staff number, the jobs will be peppered around the world rather than concentrated in a few areas, the majority in the UK."
"Direct staff reductions will be achieved through voluntary schemes and us not replacing people who retire or leave the business. 7,000 people do this each year so this is achievable."
I hope this helps. And thanks again.
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