Vodafone will cut about 500 jobs in Britain, or 5 per cent of its UK workforce, it confirmed in a statement today.
Vodafone said in November it would cut £1 billion ($1.5 billion) in costs to maintain profits and boost free cash flow as it reduced its full-year revenue outlook for the second time in four months.
"The majority of savings will be achieved by taking operating costs out of the business, however, there will also be a reduction of approximately 500 jobs across the business," the company said today.
The economic downturn has hit telecoms companies less hard than many other sectors but is still slowing growth, especially in developed markets.
British Telecom is cutting 10,000 jobs, and cable and telecoms provider Virgin Media is reducing its workforce by about 2,200 by 2012.
Vodafone had been widely reported to be planning to cut hundreds of jobs in Britain. It employs about 71,000 people around the world.
Reuters