Team Blitz India
LONDON: British multinational telecom company Vodafone would cut 11,000 jobs across countries over three years as part of a turnaround plan in view of the poor performance in recent years, announced Group Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle. Incidentally, the statement came on May 16, the day that Vodafone announced results for the year ended March 31, 2023.
Change to deliver: “Our performance has not been good enough,” said Della Valle, who was officially appointed Vodafone Group Chief Executive on April 27 this year. She was the interim Group Chief Executive for a few months before the announcement.
“To consistently deliver, Vodafone must change. 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 added.
Decline in earnings: Vodafone reported a decline of 1.3 per cent in group core earnings to €14.7 billion for the year, missing its own guidance. Adjusted basic earnings per share was 11.45 Euro cents, compared to 11.68 Euro cents for 2022 financial.
According to the Group Chief Executive, the company is underperforming in Germany, which is its biggest market. Vodafone has already made some cuts in its central operations, slashing 500 positions early in the year. In its financial 2024 guidance, the company has kept its adjusted free cash flow to be around €3.3 billion for this financial year. This has slipped from €4.8 billion euros in the year till the end of March 2023. Currently, Vodafone employs 90,000 people directly across Europe and Africa.
