Orange is set to slash up to 2,000 jobs in the UK as parent company France Telecom looks to cut costs by merging its Wanadoo broadband service with its Orange-branded mobile phone business
France Telecom will offer both mobile and broadband services under the Orange brand in the UK. Orange says it will reduce its cost base by cutting 15% of UK jobs through a combination of redeployment, natural attrition and non-renewal of short-term contracts, though some redundancies may be required too.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU), the primary trade union for Orange employees, called the proposed cuts “unnecessary” and pointed out that the company’s UK revenues are up by 5% – “an increase purely down to the hard and dedicated effort of the Orange workforce,” said CWU deputy general secretary Jeannie Drake. “Orange has left people feeling insecure, vulnerable, and undervalued.”