A new
report from Light Reading shows that the 20 largest telephone companies in North America and Europe cut more than 63,000 jobs last year, and 10 of those companies have slashed nearly 21,000 more so far in 2017.
The job reductions are the result of companies making moves to automate operations and boost efficiency, but it could also be dragging down customer service. AT&T, for example, cut 12,910 jobs last year, per Light Reading, and dropped another 11,740 in 2017. At the same time, average revenue per employee has increased, going from $522,00 in 2015 to $610,000 in 2016.
Verizon was the most efficient company in Light Reading's study, generating $783,000+ per employee in 2016.
"Driven partly by merger and acquisition activity, staff reductions have happened as operators have discovered new ways of automating processes thanks to recent technological advances," writes Light Reading News Editor Iain Morris. "Germany's Deutsche Telekom, for example, has recently outlined its vision of developing networks it can manage 'with no human involvement' through a process of 'brutal automation.'"
Check out the full report, with plenty more stats,
here.