BT, the UK telecoms giant, said it will become a ‘leaner business’ as it announced plans to reduce its workforce by as much as 55,000 by 2030, more than 40% of its global employee base, including about 10,000 jobs replaced by artificial intelligence, reports The Guardian. The telecoms company employs about 130,000 staff globally, with approximately 30,000 of those contractors through third parties, and has about 80,000 staff in the UK. Last week, BT said it intended to reduce its total workforce to about 75,000 to 90,000 between 2028 and 2030. The company did not specify if the cuts would involve contractors.

The company said that over the rest of the decade it expects to complete the most labour intensive part of the rollout of next-generation full-fibre and 5G networks across the UK, meaning fewer engineers will be needed.

Philip Jansen, the BT chief executive, said the introduction of AI across its business could result in the elimination of the equivalent of about 10,000 roles. While Jansen said that the job cuts would come from across the global business, a ‘big chunk’ of those were expected to be in the UK as fibre broadband and 5G rollout was completed and old 3G and copper technology phased out.

Prospect, the union that represents thousands of BT managers, expressed concern at the size of the cuts. The Communications Workers Union (CWU), which represents the majority of BT workers, said the cuts plan was not a surprise to members. A spokesperson for the CWU said the union has ‘made it categorically clear to BT that we want to retain as many direct labour jobs as possible and that any reduction should come from subcontractors in the first instance and natural attrition.’