Vodafone to hire 170 to offset Newbury cuts

Vodafone has confirmed that it will eliminate hundreds of jobs in the UK in its back-office areas but will offset some of the cuts by adding 170 new customer service staff.

"We're committed to increasing the number of customer-facing employees which will help us simplify our business," Matthew Brearly, human relations director at the mobile phone company's UK division, said.

The company will cut 375 jobs at its Newbury headquarters in West Berkshire starting this month. It has already started to shake up its management team after making some positions redundant.

The company said that it would also take on 50 graduates in the summer as part of a scheme announced in January. It has had 3,000 applications for the positions.

Vodafone is looking to cut £1 billion in costs this year across its global operations. It has about 3,000 staff in Newbury and nearly 10,000 workers across the UK.

Nic Fildes, Times Online 09-03-2010