UPDATE: Vodafone cuts 500 jobs

 

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By Stuart Turton and Reuters

Posted on 23 Feb 2009 at 15:42

Vodafone will slash 500 hundred UK jobs as it seeks to bring down costs during the recession, the company has confirmed.

The cuts represent roughly 5% of Vodafone's 10,500 strong UK workforce, and will principally come from the firm's Newbury headquarters. The rest will be "across all levels of the business," according to a Vodafone spokesperson.

Vodafone says it "intends to reduce its cost base, whilst continuing to invest in new products and services to meet changing customer needs", in order "for it to compete more effectively in the UK market".

The firm announced in November that it intended to trim £1 billion in costs.

The company joins a growing list of mobile operators including Nokia, Virgin Media and BT which are slashing staff in the wake of the downturn.

A spokesperson for the union Connect says it is "urging the company to work with us to explore options around re-training and redeployment."