Telecoms giant BT to cut 13,000 jobs, move out of central London headquarters

LONDON - BT Group plc, formerly known as British Telecom, on Thursday announced its plan to axe a total of 13,000 management and back-up office jobs over three years as it will shut the global headquarters in central London where it has been based for more than 140 years.

The telecoms giant seeks to cut 1.5 billion pounds, or $2.03 billion, in costs after a torrid 18 months.

It is the biggest jobs cut at BT for almost a decade and far larger than financial analysts in London had been expecting.

BT is one of the leading communications companies, serving broadband, phone, TV and mobile needs of customers in the UK and in more than 170 countries and regions worldwide.

The British company said that about two-thirds of the job cuts will fall on its British workforce of about 80,000, with the remainder coming from the 18,000 staff it employs internationally.

BT is also moving out of its central London headquarters in St Paul's, where it has been headquartered since 1874 when the group was known as the General Post Office, as part of a wide-ranging restructuring.

"This is probably the most significant transformation we have made in the last 10 years," said Gavin Patterson, the chief executive of BT. "We need to do this to be competitive in the future."

"If we are compared with our peers we are frankly too complex and overweight," Patterson said. "While I recognise the pain, ultimately it is the right thing to do for the business."

The group also said it would be hiring about 6,000 new staff, primarily in customer service and engineering.

The job cuts, which amount to about 13 percent of BT's total global workforce, mean the company will ultimately be cutting about 17,000 jobs over a four-year period.

Last May, the British company cut 4,000 jobs, with about half coming from the UK, to save 300 million pounds, or $405 million, over two years.