Vodafone cuts 3,000 jobs across UK and Europe in major cost-saving drive

The telecoms group cut 3,000 jobs across its UK and European operations during the first half of the year.

It also announced a further 2,300 redundancies in Germany on Monday.

Vodafone aims to save more than €2billion (£1.64billion) a year across its European operations and shared services divisions by 2030.

Its struggling German business is a key focus, with the latest cuts intended to help turn its performance around.

The €200million (£165.4million) in European cost savings included €50million (£41million) stripped from UK operations following Vodafone’s merger with Three UK in 2025 to form VodafoneThree.

The company did not disclose how many of the 3,000 roles lost were based in the UK, where it has its headquarters.

Jobs were also affected in the group’s shared services operations, which deliver support functions from hubs in India and eastern Europe.

Despite the cost savings, Vodafone swung to a statutory pre-tax loss of €373million (£309million) for the six months to 30 September. That compares with profits of €2.1billion (£1.7billion) over the same period a year earlier.

The loss was driven largely by a €4.85billion (£3.98billion) writedown on its German business, alongside other impairment charges.

Nevertheless, the company lifted its full-year earnings guidance for the second time this year.

Vodafone now expects underlying earnings of between €13.2billion and €13.4billion (£10.8billion to £11billion), representing organic growth of roughly 6 per cent to 8 per cent.

Its previous forecast, raised in July, had pointed to €13billion to €13.3billion (£10.7billion to £10.9billion).

Group chief executive Margherita Della Valle said: “I am very happy about our overall group performance, but Germany is not yet where it needs to be.”

Ms Della Valle added: “We have a clear action plan in progress, which is structurally simplifying our German operations and improving customer satisfaction across all of our services.”

Since taking the helm in 2023, Ms Della Valle has overseen a significant programme of workforce reductions.

A total of 11,000 positions have been eliminated between then and the end of September this year, delivering €700million (£580million) in annual cost savings so far.