Virgin Media O2 to axe thousands of UK jobs in £800m savings plan
Virgin Media O2 is to axe thousands of UK jobs as it seeks around £800 million a year in savings by 2029, with head office, IT and support roles likely to be affected.
How it was covered
- Sky News carried 83% of the airtime and concentrated on the £22bn debt, possible 4,000 job losses and results.
- Channel 5 concentrated on the £800m annual savings target and likely affected departments.
- BBC News, BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4, GB News and ITV: not found in tracked broadcasts.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
Virgin Media O2 is set to cut thousands of jobs in the UK as the telecoms company tries to reduce costs. Channel 5 reported that it aims to save around £800 million a year by 2029. Channel 5 also reported that the company has not confirmed where the cuts will fall. According to Channel 5, head office, IT and support areas are likely to be affected.
Sky News reported that the cuts would form the bulk of a cost-cutting programme. It reported that investor concerns about Virgin Media O2's ability to pay off its £22 billion debt lay behind the move. Mark Kleinman, Sky News's city editor, said the company was struggling under the debt pile and was urgently seeking ways to tackle it. He said its dividend would probably be cut.
Sky News reported that as many as 4,000 jobs would go, about a quarter of its 16,000 workforce. It said the precise number had not been finalised.
According to Sky News, Virgin Media O2 would present its quarterly financial results the following week. Kleinman said it would express a cost savings target in financial terms rather than spelling out the number of jobs that will go.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Reported by all 2 channels | ||
| Virgin Media O2 aims to cut costs by around £800 million a year by 2029 and will present the target in financial terms rather than specifying job losses. | Reported by Sky News | |
| Virgin Media O2 reportedly plans to cut up to 4,000 jobs from its 16,000-strong workforce, with the precise number not finalised. | ||
| Only on one channel | ||
| Virgin Media O2 reportedly has £22 billion in debt and is urgently seeking ways to address it. | Not reported by Channel 5 | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News focused on the company's financial pressure, leading with its £22 billion debt and the need to cut costs. Its city editor Mark Kleinman gave a specific potential figure of up to 4,000 job losses and said the precise number was not finalised. It also reported that quarterly results would set out a financial savings target rather than a job-cut number.
- “Virgin Media O2 is struggling under a 22 billion pounds debt pile and it's urgently seeking ways to tackle that.”
- “I understand that the bulk of the pain here will come as part of a cost cutting programme entailing thousands of job losses.”
- “as many as 4,000 jobs will go at Virgin Media O2”
Channel 5's brief report focused on the concrete savings target and the likely parts of the business affected. It said Virgin Media O2 is to axe thousands of UK jobs, wants around £800 million a year in savings by 2029, and has not confirmed where cuts will fall. It did not mention the £22 billion debt, the possible dividend cut or the 4,000 figure reported by Sky News.
- “Virgin Media O2 is to axe thousands of jobs in the UK.”
- “The telecoms company wants to cut costs by around £800 million a year by 2029.”
- “It hasn't been confirmed where the jobs will go yet, but it's likely to be head office, IT and support areas.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.