Vodafone to cut several hundred jobs in an effort to control costs

Telecommunications giant Vodafone has announced plans to cut several hundred jobs, primarily located at its London headquarters, as part of its efforts to rein in costs and revive its struggling performance.

This marks the company's largest round of job cuts in the past five years. Vodafone currently employs 104,000 people globally, with 9,400 of those located in the UK.

The company has faced challenges this past year, with investors calling for the company to simplify its operations, shed underperforming units and decentralize its global operations.

The company announced in November that it would cut €1 billion of costs by 2026, following a decline in group profits in H1 of the year, driven in part by weak performance in Germany, Vodafone's largest market.

The cost savings will be achieved through streamlining and simplification of the group, which could involve job losses. Vodafone has stated that it will provide more information about the changes when it announces its Q3 results on February 1st.

Vodafone's decline in value is not unique to the company, as the European telecoms sector has seen a decline in recent years, with companies such as Vodafone, BT, Telefónica, and Orange experiencing a decline in value.

The industry's highly power-intensive and debt-ridden nature has been further impacted by increasing energy prices and rising interest rates.