For Vodafone, 2023 has been anything but good so far, with the company losing customers and apparently planning layoffs to make up for the losses.
Munich – Higher prices, fewer customers and soon probably fewer staff seems to be Vodafone's motto this year. As the company announced, the figures are declining and the company's performance is falling short of expectations, especially in Germany. In the first quarter of the year alone, the company lost more than 200,000 customers. More than at any time in five years, wrote the online trade magazine inside-digital.de. This also puts the jobs of Vodafone's employees at risk.
Enterprise: | Vodafone |
Customer loss: | 227,000 mobile customers |
Period: | January to March 2023 |
Vodafone loses hundreds of thousands of customers – company wants to "regain competitiveness"
The fact that the company is losing hundreds of thousands of customers could be due, among other things, to the prices, which Vodafone has even increased for existing customers. The company was the first Internet provider in Germany to take this step. Meanwhile, the consumer advice centre considers the increase to be unlawful and is even considering a class action lawsuit against Vodafone. According to inside-digital.de, Vodafone is said to have lost almost 120,000 cable Internet customers and another almost 90,000 DSL customers within a year. The number of TV customers is also expected to decline by more than 400,000 in the same period. This leads to a major loss of revenue for Vodafone.
"Our performance wasn't good enough. In order to deliver consistently, Vodafone needs to change. My priorities are customers, simplicity and growth. We will simplify our organisation and reduce complexity in order to regain our competitiveness," said Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone's new CEO, commenting on the company's plans.
This year, Vodafone has already lost hundreds of thousands of customers and is apparently planning to lay off thousands of employees. © Markus Mainka/Imago
Vodafone is losing hundreds of thousands of customers – thousands of employees before layoffs?
Vodafone's profits are falling – compared to the previous year, they are said to have fallen by 3.3 percent. As inside-digital.de reported, the new boss's plan includes mass layoffs. The group plans to cut 11,000 jobs over the next three years. Should Vodafone's plans be implemented in this way, more than ten percent of the company's global jobs would be cut.
In Germany, too, up to 1300 full-time positions could be cut – but at the same time, customer satisfaction is to be increased. To this end, a job offensive with around 400 jobs in the customer-oriented area is planned.
Vodafone loses hundreds of thousands of customers – competitors record profits
The competition is fierce. And as far as the postpaid business is concerned, Vodafone is currently unable to compete with either Deutsche Telekom (more than 24 million customers) or Telefónica Deutschland (more than 26 million customers). While Vodafone is losing customers, both competitors were able to record gains in contract customers. (Kiba)