Vodafone to fire hundreds of employees in biggest layoffs in 5 years

With every passing day, the layoff fever is intensifying around the globe. Several companies are announcing job cuts daily. Joining the list is Vodafone, which has announced its biggest layoff in five years. The telecom service major will be firing hundreds of employees, according to a report by the Financial Times. 

As per the same report, most of the jobs are being cut from its London headquarters. The decision came after Vodafone’s November announcement of cost-saving measures worth $1.08 billion by 2026 in the wake of a deteriorating market outlook. 

Not just Vodafone, other telecom companies like Spain’s Telefonica and France’s Orange are also witnessing valuation cuts of almost 50 per cent as they have come under intense pressure amid high energy prices and rising interest rates.

While Vodafone has 104,000 employees globally, it could not be verified how much impact the job cuts will have on other regions, including India, where the company operates with Idea under the brand name Vi.

Meanwhile, we also saw some major changes in the management. CEO Nick Read, whose tenure as chief executive saw the company lose more than 40 per cent of its value, resigned in 2022. Vodafone’s chief financial officer, Margherita Della Valle, is currently working as the interim CEO.

At the beginning of 2023, the company sold its business in Hungary to local IT Company 4iG and the Hungarian state for $1.82 billion in cash. The deal was first announced in August 2022. 

Reporting the same, Vodafone said, “We are reviewing our operating model, focusing on streamlining and simplifying the group. We will say more about the changes when we announce our third-quarter results on February 1." 

Some of the major companies that have kicked out their employees in 2023 are BlackRock, Coinbase, Amazon, Salesforce, Morgan Stanley, McDonald's, Goldman Sachs, and others.