# BT cuts almost 8,000 jobs amid sweeping cost-saving programme

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/bt-cuts-almost-8000-jobs-amid-sweeping-cost-saving-programme/
- Published: 2026-11-05T14:40:48+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T15:03:52+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/nov/05/bt-cuts-jobs-cost-saving-programme-profit-share-price
- Topics: Business, Economy, Software, Technology, World

## Key points

- BT has cut 7,731 jobs since March.
- Six-month pre-tax profit rose 12% to £1.1bn.
- Openreach aims to reach 25m homes with full fibre by year-end.

## Summary

BT has cut 7,731 jobs since the end of March as it pursues a broad cost-saving programme, with most reductions at Openreach as fibre network construction slows. The cuts helped lift pre-tax profit by 12% to £1.1bn in the six months to September, while BT’s share price rose to a five-year high.

The workforce now stands at about 90,000, excluding the international business being spun out with Verizon; BT expects it to fall to between 75,000 and 80,000 by 2030. Chief executive Allison Kirkby raised the savings target to £3.7bn by 2030, and Openreach’s full-fibre network has reached 24.1m homes, with 25m targeted by year-end. BT is also pursuing a £400m takeover of TalkTalk, which employs about 900 people and supplies services to 2.5m households, pending regulatory review.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.