Vodafone axed another 3,000 jobs in first half amid cost-cutting overhaul

Telecoms giant Vodafone has revealed it cut 3,000 roles across its UK and European division in the first half of the year as it slashes costs to boost growth.

The group said the jobs cull came as it stripped out 200 million euros (£165.4 million) in costs throughout its European business, including 50 million euros (£41 million) of savings in the UK after its deal to merge with Three UK in 2025 to create VodafoneThree.

It did not say how many jobs were axed in the UK, where it is headquartered.

Roles were also impacted across its shared services operations, which provide support functions to the division from centres in India and eastern Europe.

On Monday, Vodafone announced another 2,300 job cuts in Germany as it looks to turn around performance in the country and as part of its drive to cut more than 2 billion euros (£1.64 billion) in annual costs across Europe and shared operations by 2030.

Half-year results showed Vodafone raised its annual earnings outlook again amid the cost cuts, with the group now guiding for between 13.2 billion and 13.4 billion euros (£10.8 billion to £11 billion).

This implies growth of around 6% to 8% on an organic basis.

This is up from previous guidance for underlying earnings of 13 billion to 13.3 billion euros (£10.7 billion to £10.9 billion) when it last hiked its outlook in July.

It comes despite Vodafone revealing it swung to a statutory pre-tax loss of 373 million euros (£309 million) in the six months to September 30 from profits of 2.1 billion euros (£1.7 billion) a year earlier due in part to a mammoth 4.85 billion euro (£3.98 billion) writedown in Germany and other impairment charges.

Margherita Della Valle, group chief executive of Vodafone, said: “I am very happy about our overall group performance, but Germany is not yet where it needs to be.

“We have a clear action plan in progress, which is structurally simplifying our German operations and improving customer satisfaction across all of our services.”

She has been leading a hefty cost-cutting drive since taking the top job in 2023, with 11,000 roles axed between then and the end of September this year and annual costs cut by 700 million euros (£580 million) so far.