BT freezes wages for 100,000

Bosses can expect 'substantially reduced' bonuses

By John Oates • Get more from this author

Posted in Telecoms, 12th March 2009 11:16 GMT

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British Telecom is freezing wages for all its 100,000 UK staff in a "head on" response to the economic downturn.

A BT spokesman said: “BT can confirm that, after careful consideration, there will be no pay rises as a result of this year’s review of salaries. This will apply to all UK employees, including BT’s most senior executives. The company has informed its employees and unions.

“This has not been an easy decision but, given the tough economic climate, it is important BT meets these challenging times head on.

“Our unions have always been pragmatic in recognising the challenges that face BT and so we hope they will support our efforts to ensure BT remains a healthy and sustainable company for many years to come.”

But it seems like not all BT's unions got the memo - Communication Workers Union Deputy General Secretary Andy Kerr, said: "A pay freeze is wholly unacceptable. BT is still making substantial profits and a pay cut in those circumstances is an insult to staff."

CWU will make a formal response next week.

They'll no doubt take into account that that managers and execs are still likely to be in line for bonuses - though they are expected to be "substantially lower" than in previous years.

The telco said in November that it would cut 10,000 jobs - mostly contractors and temps. An internal email, seen by the Reg, was brutal about the urgent need for serious cost cutting exacerbated by losses at BT Global Services.

But the stock market seemed unimpressed - BT shares were up very slightly today to 71.5 - half what they were worth in January. ®

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