By James Simons-
Vodafone said Tuesday that it’s laying off 11,000 workers as part of a major revamp aimed at cutting costs and boosting flagging financial performance.
Vodafone, one of the world’s biggest mobile phone companies by subscribers, made the announcement as it reported that its annual earnings dropped 1.3% and forecast little or no earnings growth over the financial year.
The mass redudancies were announced in a statement made by Vodafone’s chief executive, Margherita Della Valle. She said that the firm’s “performance has not been good enough,” and that to “consistently deliver, Vodafone must change.”
As part of the company’s turnaround efforts — and in addition to the planned cuts — Della Valle aims for “significant” investment to be reallocated towards customer experience and brand during financial year ’24, to launch a “Germany turnaround plan,” and to undertake a “strategic review” in Spain.
“My priorities are customers, simplicity and growth. We will simplify our organisation, cutting out complexity to regain our competitiveness. We will reallocate resources to deliver the quality service our customers expect and drive further growth from the unique position of Vodafone Business,” she said in the statement.
Della Vale was appointed as Vodafone’s chief executive last month to oversee the firm’s turnaround, and had been serving as interim chief executive since January. Prior to that, she served as finance chief.
After her appointment, she said: “To realise our potential, Vodafone needs to change. We know we can do better. My focus will be to improve the service for our customers, simplify our business, and grow.”
“The circumstances of our industry and the position of Vodafone within it require us to change,” CEO Margherita Della Valle said. “We need to take out complexity and simplify how we operate.”
Vodafone said the reductions would be carried out over the next three years, with cuts already announced in Italy, Germany and at its U.K. headquarters.