UK telecommunications incumbent BT has announced that it will axe 6,000 jobs in a desperate attempt to offset losses caused by a combination of market and regulatory pressures.
The British telecommunications colossus is expected to produce a detailed plan which indicates that it will reduce its global workforce by 6% and provide a major update to the company's corporate strategy when announcing its annual results on 10 May.
It has been reported that the vast majority of the job losses and staff reductions are tipped to be in managerial and back office roles.
A new round of swingeing cuts follows 4,000 redundancies announced in May 2017 by the UK's largest fixed and mobile operator. At the time CEO Gavin Patterson said the reductions were a result of "market and regulatory pressures" and the money saved would "support investment".
The last two years have represented a period of wholesale change at BT with the company in the process of spinning-off fibre rollout division Openreach whilst integrating mobile operator EE into its new consumer division.
However, despite the strategic reorganization of the BT business model - it has produced a mixed bag of financial results. Year-on-year profit increased in its Q3, but that has been followed by a flat Q2 and then diving profits in Q1. Some industry analysts have attributed its loss to the fall-out from its accounting scandal in Italy.
However, despite the turbulent period being encountered by the UK operator, both Patterson and CEO Marc Allera have remained bullish on the operator's underlying performance and prospects.
