14 DAY TRIAL // As reported before, Vodafone has operated some job cuts in the UK. The company has reduced its workforce in the country with about 5 percent, considering that it has about 10,000 employees in the region, and it announced the layoff of 500 people. According to the carrier, the job cuts are part of its plan to slash annual operating expenses by £1bn by April 2011.
According to the news, Vodafone has given the pink slip to 170 employees at its headquarters in Newbury, Berkshire, as well as to 180 at its call centre in Stoke-on-Trent. The rest of the jobs were cut from the carrier's bases in BanBury and Warrington. In addition, it seems that, while some people were asked to leave their desks immediately, others are stated to go through a consultation process after which some of them will be able to apply for new roles.
The mobile phone operator has about 71,000 people worldwide. The company stated that the new workforce reductions are meant to enable the business to “compete more effectively” in UK, which is the fourth largest market in the European area.
At the same time, a Vodafone spokesman announced that more jobs would be slashed at the company's other European businesses, in its worst performing markets, like Spain and Turkey. Back in December, the company cut 150 jobs in Ireland.
Chief Executive Vittorio Colao announced in November that the company was planning to reduce its annual operating costs by £1bn to £21bn by March 2011. Vodafone said it was planning on consolidating its IT and logistics operations to achieve the savings, but that there would be some layoffs as well. By the end of the 2010 financial year the carrier expects £500m savings.
The company's users were not too eager to upgrade their handsets to the latest models available, and they are also reported to have “traded down” to pay-as-you-go contracts, a move that affected the carrier's revenues. According to Colao, Vodafone's revenue from handset sales in Europe has lowered by as much as 17 percent.
The Connect union, which represents the Vodafone staff, said: “Where redundancies are absolutely unavoidable, then we will be pushing the company to pursue a voluntary approach and to establish fair and transparent selection criteria. We will be working very closely with the company to ensure that our members are treated with respect during this difficult time and that a full and proper process of consultation is carried out.”