Major Dundee employer BT plans to cut thousands of jobs across the business this decade.
BT Group has said it will cut between 40,000 and 55,000 jobs by 2030 as part of plans to slash costs.
The telecoms giant currently has around 130,000 employees in the UK, including more than 1,000 staff in Dundee.
By the end of the decade this total number will be fewer than 90,000, the company said in an update on Thursday.
A new multi-million-pound office building at West Marketgait has been under construction for a year. The Dundee workforce is currently based at Ward Road.
The new building, being built by Ogilvie Construction, is scheduled to be complete next year.
BT job cut plans
BT said it wants to rely on a “much smaller workforce” and a reduced cost base, and to digitise its processes.
It said that once its full fibre broadband and 5G network is rolled out, it will not need as many staff to build and maintain the network.
Chief executive Philip Jansen said: “By continuing to build and connect like fury, digitise the way we work and simplify our structure, by the end of the 2020s BT Group will rely on a much smaller workforce and a significantly reduced cost base.
“New BT Group will be a leaner business with a brighter future.”
He added the firm would be working with its union partners throughout the job cuts and would also rely on natural attrition – when an employee leaves the company but is not replaced.
What does it mean for BT Dundee?
The office development has been hailed as a vote of confidence in Dundee by BT.
A spokesman said it was too early to say what departments or locations would see reductions.
He added: “Dundee is a key strategic location for us with a long lease being taken on the building.”
Prospect union, which represents thousands of managers at BT described the news as “deeply concerning”.
John Ferrett, Prospect national secretary, said: “Announcing such a huge reduction in this way will be very unsettling for workers who did so much to keep the country connected during the pandemic.”
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