BT chief planning to axe 55,000 jobs takes home £3.1m in pay

The boss of BT – which is planning to shed up to 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade – took home £3.1million last year.

Chief executive Philip Jansen bagged a £1.8million bonus on top of £1.3million pay. But his £3.1million was down from £3.35million the previous year.

The group, which also owns mobile networks EE and Plusnet and full-fibre broadband network Openreach, last month unveiled drastic plans to rely on fewer staff and a reduced cost base.

BT has invested billions in its full-fibre broadband in Britain. But once this is complete, it will not need as many engineers.

This means about 15,000 jobs will be shed, and more than 10,000 will go as it looks to stop running networks like 3G and 4G.

Another 10,000 are set to be replaced by artificial intelligence and automated services.

The union Prospect, which represents managers, is deeply concerned by the mooted cuts and has demanded an urgent meeting with Jansen over the plans.

The Communication Workers Union also demanded to ‘be in the room’ when the organisational changes are discussed.