U.K. ISP and cable TV provider Virgin Media is to cut over 2,200 employees by 2012 to “significantly improve the efficiency of the business,” according to a company statement.
The Hampshire-based company, which supplies broadband, cable TV, phone and mobile services, said the operational restructuring was “part of a process we began earlier this year to review our operations and to better understand how we could keep meeting the needs of our customers.” Although the company is based in Britain, it is listed in the U.S. on the Nasdaq index.
Virgin Media is looking to implement the job cuts and other changes between the fourth quarter of 2009 and the end of 2010. It has not been confirmed yet how this will affect individual departments or locations.
As the restructuring plan rolls out, Virgin Media’s statement said it would consult with all necessary parties and, where possible, “look to mitigate the need for redundancy and offer alternative roles to those affected.”
“These changes are critical to ensuring Virgin Media is positioned to compete effectively and deliver on our customers’ changing expectations,” said CEO Neil Berkett in a statement. “Over the coming weeks and months, we will be developing more detailed proposals for their implementation. Throughout the process, we will be communicating as early and openly as we can.”
The statement claims the restructuring builds on the 2006 merger between NTL and Telewest, which led to the acquisition of Virgin Mobile in 2006. It cites its main goal as the need to create a “fully-integrated, customer-focused organization that is capable of competing effectively for the long-term.”
