Vodafone Germany: 1,300 layoffs planned

There is bad news for Vodafone’s workforce. The major network operator wants to initiate far-reaching job cuts in Germany. According to the company, this is intended to create more confidence among customers and free up capital for investments elsewhere.

Vodafone slims down management

When it comes to job cuts, experience shows that heads roll first at lower levels of merit in a company. Vodafone has now also announced more far-reaching layoffs, but in doing so it is primarily targeting management. The company plans to cut a total of 1,300 jobs, as announced in a public statement on March 29, 2023. The announcement states that the cuts will take place “primarily in management, in dual functions and in areas without direct customer contact.” With a total of 16,000 jobs, Vodafone is undoubtedly one of the largest providers in the entire European region.

As revealed in a report by Handelsblatt, the wave of layoffs affects employees who hold administrative or management positions. Philippe Rogge, Vodafone’s head of Germany, expressed this in the report. He further argues that the job cuts are primarily intended to save money. The money saved is then to be used to “finance our ambitions”. Behind these ambitions is a “new start” for Vodafone. In a streamlined form, the company is to have sufficient resources available again to ensure customer confidence.

A coming and going

While 1300 management jobs are to be cut, they want to create new jobs elsewhere. Just under 400 new employees Vodafone wants to bring into its own team. The focus here is primarily on technical areas. The provider would also like to recruit major customers in a more targeted manner. However, the company does not only want to part with many employees. It also wants to change the way it presents itself to the outside world. While the network operator has often relied on the word “Giga” as a figurehead in the past, this is now to come to an end. Rogge is therefore bringing a lot of fresh air into the company. And that is also necessary in view of the sobering figures.

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Thus, the provider recorded a serious drop in profits in the first and second quarters of 2022. The corresponding reaction followed in November 2022, when Vodafone Group made it clear that it would initiate extensive cost-cutting measures. One billion euros are to be saved by 2026 and used elsewhere. The focus seems to be on Vodafone Germany. After all, the provider is facing not too good economic results in this country. This is probably due not least to the traditional success of Deutsche Telekom. We are curious to see whether the plan to make savings through realignment will work.