BT is to axe 13,000 over the next three years and move out of its central London headquarters.
The telecoms giant will cut 12 per cent of its global workforce, with two-thirds of those roles based in the UK.
Chief executive Gavin Patterson said BT is looking to cut back its management positions and “consolidate in key towns” to reduce costs by £1.5 billion.
He said around 80 per cent of its staff were based in around 50 offices across the UK and that this will be cut to 30 “modern, strategic sites to create a more collaborative, open and customer-focused working culture”.
BT has been based in St Paul’s since 1874.
“We will certainly have a headquarters in London; this is not BT moving out of London. It is more likely to be in a smaller, future-oriented working environment,” said Patterson.
Shares in BT fell nearly eight per cent in early trading despite it also announcing pre-tax profits rose of £2.6 billion in the year to March, a rise of 11 per cent.
The firm will hire about 6,000 employees to “support network deployment and customer service”. Its standalone subsidiary Openreach, which builds and manages most of the UK’s broadband infrastructure, has already announced 3,500 of these.
BT’s statement said it must respond to “increasing competitive intensity from established companies and new entrants”.
It continued: “It is critical that BT transforms its operating model to build a lean and agile organisation that delivers sustained improvement in customer experience and productivity.”
BT currently employs 80,000 in the UK and 18,000 abroad.
“This is probably the most significant transformation we have made in the last ten years,” said Patterson.
“We need to do this to be competitive in the future. If we are compared with our peers we are frankly too complex and overweight.
“While I recognise the pain, ultimately it is the right thing to do for the business.”
The firm also announced a 13-year plan to reduce its £11.3bn pension fund deficit.