Vodafone pulls trigger on layoffs

Vodafone has tried to play down the impact of cutting 375 jobs at its UK headquarters by stating the losses would be somewhat offset by new recruits.
 
The company confirmed said it will trim positions across a number of areas, primarily in the back office, according to the Wall Street Journal.
 
At the same time, Vodafone intends to hire 170 new employees in customer facing roles, and choose 50 graduates to start in September.
 
Early reports suggested Vodafone planned to cut up to 500 jobs.
 
Vodafone doubled its cost savings target in November, announcing plans to cut costs by £1 billion (€1.1 billion) by 2012.
 
Six retail stores – four Sainsbury's concessions stores in Sheffield and Oxford - will be closed as part of the job cuts, Mobile Today reported.
 
Vodafone currently has 400 stores in the UK, and employs around 70,000 staff worldwide.