Job losses expected in UK mobile sector

December 29, 2016

Thousands of employees across the mobile telecoms sector are expected to be made jobless in the first few months of 2017, according to a report in the Guardian.

Economic slowdown and strong competition mean that mobile operators are being forced to cut costs.

The UK’s five biggest networks, O2, Orange, 3, T-Mobile and Vodafone, employ around 45,000 people in the UK.

The companies are using management consultants to advise on the most cost effective methods of making savings.

Vodafone has announced plans to axe costs by £1 billion, and has already made 450 middle managers redundant at its Berkshire HQ.

Meanwhile, France Telecom-owned Orange is expected to make some of the biggest job cuts.

Virgin Media has already announced 2,200 job losses, with the first call centre to be shut down in early 2017.