Vodafone is the second largest mobile phone operator in Romania, but yesterday it was at the center of a very important announcement that will affect our country as well, it was made by the new CEO, Nick Read. The Vodafone group is going through quite big financial problems during this period, the company having debts of 31 billion dollars that it wants to get rid of, and to do this it has announced a series of unprecedented measures for a telecom group.
Vodafone announced that it will lay off 1700 people in the next period, their positions being filled in Romania, Egypt and India, they represent about 8% of the total number of employees globally. It is not known how many Vodafone employees in Romania will be fired by the operator, but 3000 people work for the operator in Romania, and several hundred will lose their jobs, maybe even up to 15% of the total, that is 500 people.
Vodafone: WORRYING ANNOUNCEMENT Looking at Romania
Vodafone also wants to sell a few tens of thousands of the 110.000 mobile phone towers in Europe, half of which are owned by the operator, which are currently worth 12 billion dollars. This is a measure that no other telecom group has ever done in Europe, but with debts of 31 billion euros, those from Vodafone enter the category of debts that we see more in states, not in companies.
"The incoming chief executive of Vodafone has said he is considering a sale of tens of thousands of mobile masts to reduce the company's €31bn debt pile, if the right deal can be struck. Mr Read also said the company would shed 1,700 jobs across shared service centers in Egypt, India and Romania this financial year, roughly 8 per cent of the workforce in that side of the business."
Vodafone accumulated such large debts due to increased competition in the telecom segment, but also due to bad decisions made by the company's previous management, so massive restructuring was needed. Vodafone will certainly take other measures in the future to reduce its losses and increase its profit, this being only the first step to return to normality at a time when the company is going through a very difficult period.
