Virgin Media O2 to cut thousands of jobs as it plans £800m cost savings

Up to 25% of 16,000 workforce could go as telecoms group says it will increase use of AI in areas including customer service

Virgin Media O2 is to cut thousands of jobs in an £800m cost-cutting drive as the telecommunications company aims to tackle its £22bn debt pile.

VMO2, which is jointly owned by Liberty Global and Telefónica, said £300m of the savings target will come from job cuts that will reduce the company’s employee wage bill by 30% over the next two years.

The company did not specify how many jobs this will equate to, but it could be as many as 25% of its 16,000 workforce.