Vodafone to cut or move 2,300 jobs in Germany, with AI taking on more work

Almost one in five Vodafone jobs in Germany is about to disappear or move elsewhere. The company has announced a deep restructuring, and artificial intelligence is part of the plan.

What happened?

Germany chief Marcel de Groot told staff that around 2,300 jobs will be cut or relocated over the next two years. Vodafone Germany has roughly 12,000 employees, so that is just over 19 percent of the workforce.

The Düsseldorf-based network operator says it wants to simplify its structures and become more agile after years of losing customers. Savings are planned in material and operating costs, but mostly in personnel costs. More use of AI is meant to help deliver them.

Why now?

De Groot says the company has achieved a lot in the past two years. "We have stabilised our business, we are regaining momentum with business customers, and we keep getting better in products, networks and services." But, he added, that is not enough, because the market is changing at a speed the company has not seen before.

Vodafone has lost market share to rivals in fixed-line and broadband. On top of that came the end of the Nebenkostenprivileg (the rule that let landlords bill cable TV through service charges). It ended in July 2024 and reopened the fight for millions of TV customers. De Groot has led Vodafone Germany since April 2024, with the brief of stabilising the business.

Despite the cuts, Vodafone wants to keep investing where it sees growth: fibre, plus cloud and security services for business customers.

What about the competition?

Rival O2 Telefónica has already gone down a similar road. It plans to drop 1,100 jobs this year, about one in six of its 6,820 full-time positions at the start of the year. Staff are supposed to leave voluntarily, for example through early retirement and severance packages. O2 also wants to close 60 of its 800 shops.

What's next?

The cuts are due to play out over the next two years. Vodafone has not said in the details available so far how the jobs will be split between cuts and relocations.