Telecom Giant BT Group to Cut Thousands of Jobs, Replace Workers With AI

BT Group, the leading provider of broadband and mobile service in the United Kingdom, is set to eliminate up to 55,000 jobs by 2030, according to CEO Philip Jansen.

In a recent statement to media outlets, including the BBC, Jansen noted that a significant portion of the workforce would be replaced by artificial intelligence and other technologies.

"Big changes can occur with the introduction of new technologies," Jansen explained, indicating that around 20% of the proposed cuts would affect customer service employees, with AI stepping in to compensate for the reduction in human labor.

Jansen also cited the company's ongoing expansion of its fiber network, which would require fewer workers for network maintenance. The majority of the cuts will affect the company's 80,000 employees in the UK, with a significant number of the company's 30,000 contractors abroad also losing their jobs.

The changes will help cut costs at the multinational, Jansen additionally said, according to CNN.

“By continuing to build and connect like fury, digitize the way we work and simplify our structure, by the end of the 2020s BT Group will rely on a much smaller workforce and a significantly reduced cost base,” he said.