Vodafone is planning to make its biggest round of job cuts in five years as the British telecom group seeks to rein in costs and revive its lagging performance, according to Reuters, quoting a Financial Times report.
Vodafone is looking to shed several hundred jobs, most of which will be at its headquarters in London.
In November, the company said it would cut over $1 billion in costs by 2026 after it announced that the group’s profits had slipped in the year’s first half.
Vodafone employs about 104,000 workers globally, including 9,400 in the UK.
The last few tough years have led to a sharp drop in the valuations of some of the leading telecom groups.
That includes British Telecom and Vodafone in the UK, Telefónica in Spain and Orange in France.
Vodafone’s business in India has also been under pressure over the last few years, despite the government converting a large part of the company’s debt into equity and staring at an uncertain future.
Reuters had reported earlier this month the loss-making Vodafone Idea, the Indian arm of the company, had asked local banks for at least $846 million in emergency liquidity. Domestic banks, though, were hesitant to offer new loans.
To continue operating, the corporation needs money.
But before providing the indebted operator with additional funding, the lenders will hold off until either a capital increase by its major shareholders – the UK-based Vodafone Group and the regional investor Aditya Birla Group – or a debt-to-equity conversion by the government, according to sources who spoke to Reuters.
“Without that (capital injection), it looks difficult for the company to…survive,” a top official at a state-owned bank told Reuters.