UK - BT expected to cut an extra 5,000 jobs, taking total cull to 35,000 in two years

[personnel today] BT is set to announce on Thursday that is has cut 5,000 more jobs than expected, taking its total jobs cull to 35,000 in the past two years.

The announcement on the cuts will come as the telecommunications giant is expected to announce that it has returned to profit, with annual pre-tax profits of up to £1.1bn, the Guardian has reported.

But concerns remain about the £9bn hole in the firm's pension fund.

BT made a £134m loss in 2009 due to write-downs in the value of its IT business, BT Global Services.

BT had originally said it would make 15,000 redundancies in the year to April – the same number as the previous year.

But Ian Livingston, BT's chief executive, is now expected to announce that the company has lost 35,000 jobs over the past two years.

BT declined to comment on the cuts.

It has also been cutting contractors' pay and bringing more jobs in-house in an attempt to reduce costs. Many of the job losses are thought to have been among temporary and agency workers.

BT has also offered staff a series of 'time-out options', including the opportunity to take up to a year off work in return for a 75% pay cut.

BT expected to cut an extra 5,000 jobs, taking total cull to 35,000 in two years