London (AFP) – Heavily indebted British telecommunications operator Virgin Media O2 will cut “thousands” of jobs over the next two years as part of a cost-cutting program, alongside increased use of artificial intelligence.

Published on: 03/11/2026 - 12:59

In a statement on Tuesday, the company said it expected savings of approximately 300 million pounds (360 million euros) by cutting its workforce, as part of a broader plan to reduce costs by around 800 million pounds a year by 2029.

The operator, which employs 16,000 people, was not able to give the exact number of positions cut, telling AFP that it would be "in the thousands".

The majority of these job reductions will result from restructuring at headquarters, particularly in management positions rather than customer-facing roles, Virgin Media O2 said.

Its CEO Lutz Schüler said he had resolved to “difficult decisions”, “given the market conditions we are facing, the regulatory context in fiber and the technological changes which are disrupting all sectors of the economy”.

These measures will be done “alongside increased use of AI and digital tools to support faster decision-making and execution,” the group underlined in the same press release.

The company added that it is launching a voice agent using AI to handle calls related to broadband outages.

It said it would provide further details of the restructuring plan when it publishes its annual results in February.

-22 billion pounds of debt-

Virgin Media O2 is under pressure from its investors to ease its debt mountain, which stands at more than £22 billion.

The announcement of these job cuts was made alongside the group's third quarter results, which showed a 5.7% drop in turnover to £2.4 billion year-on-year.

If the group returned to a net profit of 1.5 million pounds over the period from July to September, it simultaneously lost more than 23,000 customers on its internet and telephone services.

To contribute to cost reductions, the group is suspending the modernization of its fiber network outside of its already existing commitments. It is also reviewing its use of subcontractors and suppliers.

The company resulted from the merger in 2021 between the British entities of the Spanish operator Telefonica and the American group Liberty Global.

It had already cut 2,000 jobs in 2023 following wider restructuring across the UK telecoms sector.

In the UK, other sectors are being hit by workforce reductions as they integrate AI. On the banking side, Barclays announced earlier this month that it would cut around 5,000 jobs by the end of the year, and NatWest indicated in its latest results that it had reduced its staff by 1,000 people this quarter.

© 2026 AFP

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