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Vodafone Group plc, which is 14.6% owned by UAE telecoms company Etisalat, now known as e&, is to cut 11,000 jobs worldwide over the next three years, as it pares back costs to compete with rivals, the UK-based company said on Tuesday.
In its full-year earnings report Vodafone Group CEO Margherita Della Valle said the company’s performance had “not been good enough”.
The job cuts equate to 12% of the Vodafone’s global workforce of 90,000, and follow an annual profit forecast cut last year, as well as a cost cutting plan of more than 1 billion euros ($1.089 billion) to cope with soaring energy bills and inflation.
Della Valle said: “To consistently deliver, Vodafone must change,” adding that the organisation was being simplified, cutting out complexity to regain competitiveness.
“We will reallocate resources to deliver the quality service our customers expect,” she said.
Statements to Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) last week said e&’s group CEO Hatem Dowidar would join the Vodafone board and remain there as long as the company maintained its current 14.6% stake. The statements added that e& would become a cornerstone shareholder in Vodafone Group plc.
e& also said last week that it would jointly explore a series of collaborations with Vodafone, starting with offering cross-border digital services and solutions to multi-national customers, and a range of other services including fixed and mobile connectivity and cloud based services.
(Writing by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Brinda Darasha)
