Telecoms giant BT has announced plans to cut 1,100 jobs from one its sites over the next two years as part of a plan to ‘rebalance its talent footprint’.
Staff at its research centre at Adastral Park at Martlesham, in Suffolk, were informed of the job losses on 6 July.
Under the proposals, the 2,900 strong workforce would be cut by more than third to 1,800, with some of those affected being offered the chance to move to other sites in the UK.
The Prospect union, which represents scientists, engineers and managers, said the job losses were troubling. It added: “BT has failed to set out reasonable justification for these plans which it claims are to save money and drive collaboration at other sites.
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The planned job cuts will predominately impact highly skilled managerial and professional employees, as well as agency contractors.
The company said that while it remains committed to Ipswich, Adastral Park, on the site of a former RAF base, required significant funding in order to modernise.
A BT Group spokesperson said: “We’re consolidating into a smaller number of buildings around the UK that provide cutting- edge technology and great working environments for our people.
“As part of these activities, we’re proposing to reduce the size of our presence at Adastral Park and move some roles to other BT Group locations over the next two years.
“We are committed to Adastral Park for the long-term, and we will continue to invest in our facilities there as a number of our core operations, research and security functions will remain on-site.
“We will work closely with any colleagues impacted by these changes and will offer support including relocation and redeployment options wherever possible.”
Philippa Childs, Prospect deputy general secretary said the redundancies would be damaging to the area’s economy: “For 50 years the Adastral Park site at Martlesham Heath has been the centre of research and engineering excellence for the UK telecommunications industry. Fragmenting this centre and losing the environment of collaboration, innovation and creativity it fosters will diminish the business and have a huge personal impact upon the people involved.
“The likely impact on the local economy in Suffolk cannot be overstated.
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“Prospect urges BT to be fully transparent about its business case for significantly reducing jobs at Adastral Park and to consider all alternatives to making these highly skilled workers redundant.”
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