INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightBTBT is to cut 13,000 jobs over three years, about 12% of its workforce, as it seeks to slim down its management and
back-office roles.The telecoms giant said that the job cuts and other measures would help it to reduce costs by £1.5bn.It added that it
would be hiring about 6,000 employees to "support network deployment and customer service".A third of the job reductions will come from
outside the UK in its Global Services division.Last year, BT was forced to write down the value of the Italian part of Global Services after
an accounting scandal that cost the firm more than £500m.The company also said it intended to move out of its existing central London
headquarters and into smaller premises
BT forecast a fall in revenue of about 2% for the 2018-19 financial year
It also said it was keeping its full-year dividend unchanged from last year at 15.4p a share and would freeze it for the next two
years.Shares in BT fell nearly 8% in early trading
Philippa Childs, national secretary of the Prospect union, said the announcement was "a devastating blow to managers and professionals
represented by Prospect".She said Prospect had been working closely with BT on looking at the impact of organisational changes, but the
number of job cuts sounded "unrealistic".'Lean and agile'BT said it was responding to changes in the telecoms market, including "increasing
competitive intensity from established companies and new entrants"."It is critical that BT transforms its operating model to build a lean
and agile organisation that delivers sustained improvement in customer experience and productivity," it said.The announcements came as BT
disclosed that its annual pre-tax profits rose 11% to £2.6bn in the year to March.The firm also announced a 13-year plan to plug its
£11.3bn pension fund deficit, including regular payments into the scheme and a bond issue.Image copyrightReutersChief executive Gavin
Patterson said BT was in a unique position: "We have the UK's leading fixed and mobile access networks, a portfolio of strong and well
segmented brands, and close strategic partnerships."This position of strength will enable us to build on the disciplined delivery and risk
reduction of the last financial year, a period in which we delivered overall in line with our financial and operational commitments whilst
addressing many uncertainties."'Challenging conditions'George Salmon, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the job cuts and HQ move
were "drastic actions", but added that they "still aren't going to be enough to dig BT out the hole it's in"
"The dividend, which was rising 10% a year not so long ago, is set to freeze for the foreseeable future, and next year's profits look likely
to fall again," he added."There are silver linings here and there
For example, EE and the consumer businesses continue to grow
However, these improvements are being more than offset by challenging conditions elsewhere
"Openreach terms are getting tougher, and the business-to-business and global divisions are having a torrid time
Gavin Patterson will have his work cut out if he's to steady the ship." Analysis: Rob Young, business reporterBT's share price has halved
Investors have become less convinced about the company's ability to make them money, after an accounting scandal, a profits warning and a
BT clearly thinks it has too many staff doing jobs not needed in the digital world
Its wide-ranging corporate shake-up is an attempt to simplify the business, to squeeze more profit out of each pound it spends
It's under pressure to pump more money into fibre optic and super-fast mobile networks and to fill the black hole in its pension scheme
It has made more efforts on those fronts today
Thousands of new hires will be engineers and cyber-experts, focusing not on copper cables, but on building the physical and mobile networks
It's also trying to improve its customer service and mend relations with the regulator
It's a big job, turning a former monopoly into a consumer-focused TV and phone company
Shares are down sharply, suggesting investors are yet to be convinced by BT's plan.Do you work for BT Is your job at risk as a result of
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