Further redundancy bombshell in Global a blatant management ‘choice’

Telecoms & Financial Services, BT

Monday 1st February 2021 

BT Global’s main operating unit – the Digital Delivery Service Organisation, generally known as DDSO – has become the latest is part of the division to put people at risk of compulsory redundancy.

With the 16 ‘in scope’ team members spread across no fewer than 5 different work areas, the tiny numbers in most of the redundancy pools provides one the clearest demonstrations yet that management is deliberately shunning time-honoured methods of dealing with staff surpluses based on voluntarism and redeployment which, in previous times, would have resolved the situation painlessly.

Adding insult to injury, new fewer than 11 of the 16 roles that are being made redundant involves work that Global plans to lift and shift to its existing hubs in India and Hungary – with new direct recruitment talking place in those locations even as redundancies are being made in the UK.

Simultaneously Global’s Commercial organisation is in the process of putting five  people in scope for redundancy across three different functional units. Two of the redundancy ‘pools’ contain just one team member grade employee, and in the largest management is planning a selection process to reduce the current 3 employees to two.

With just three jobs scheduled to go across the three Commercial units, the CWU is once again arguing the  compulsory redundancy process being used is absurd, needless and cruel.

The new round of blood-letting in Global is on top of a deeply painful redundancy exercise, initially involving six other team members whose Individual Consultation meetings – triggered by contract changes with two third-party companies – straddled the Christmas/ New Year period.

Earlier outrages in Global include the decision’s move in October to place five team members at risk of compulsory redundancy (CR) as a direct result of a cost-cutting decision to offshore their work to Hungary and India.

“With Global now moving to effectively export the jobs of 11 further UK team members to the same locations it’s clear that the company has no scruples whatsoever about  laying off UK workers simply because it believes it can get their work done cheaper overseas,” stresses CWU assistant secretary Allan Eldred.

Allan Eldred

“How’s that for corporate social responsibility at a time when UK Plc is witnessing an unprecedented upsurge in joblessness stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic?”

The union’s national officer for Global continues: “The comparatively small surpluses we are currently seeing in Global should be easily manageable without the need for compulsory redundancies using time-honoured processes that have been used in the past.”

“We’ve therefore written to management asking them to seek volunteers before moving to a selection process – and there will be no excuse for them not doing this. The union firmly believes that if they ask for volunteers to leave they will get them – especially if that exercise is broadened beyond the current tiny redundancy pools.

“It remains to be seen whether Global responds positively – or whether management would rather put people, some of whom, will have financial and family commitments that are unsustainable without work, through this trauma.

“Either way, this union – and that means each and every one of us – now has no choice but to plan our fightback, because at present it seems nobody is safe.”

Chilling omens…

Dismay at Global’s current behaviour comes at a time when concern is mounting over the division’s longer-term plans under the so-called ‘Better Workplace’ site rationalisation programme.

Last July Global announced plans to concentrate its operations in just 5 main sites – Bristol, Birmingham, Ipswich, London & Manchester – while retaining an ‘operational presence’ in Glasgow, Leeds & Newcastle.

In total over 300 team members are likely to be impacted by Global’s Better Workplace proposals, but this excludes over 300 people working in Government and other security sites on which there will be separate consultative arrangements.

Against this backdrop, the union is holding a special Zoom call (registration details below) for ALL Global members tomorrow (Tuesday) to discuss management’s actions and provide members with an opportunity to ask questions or make suggestions with regards to the CWU’s ongoing ‘Count Me In’ campaign of resistance.

“It’s in every member’s interest to attend this call,” insists Allan Eldred.


Register in advance here

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.