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back to article Vodafone axes 450 at Newbury HQ

Vodafone is laying off 450 staff at its Newbury headquarters and employing more staff in shops to show customers how mobile phones work. The operator said the HQ cuts had nothing to do with current economic conditions, and that it would not be closing any of the buildings on the Newbury campus. Rather, it is all about " …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Had to laugh

    "The vast majority of phones are still being used mostly to make phone calls"

    This from the department of stating the bleedin obvious?

    seriously, I'm sorry for the people losing their jobs but the vast majority of people don't really want anything much more than the ability to make & receive calls, send the odd text and cheat a bit at pub quizes.

    OK some more technically minded people might want internet on the phone or even to use it as a broadband modem but really, why offer TV and films to your mobile? is there anything out there so important that you cant wacth it when you get home?

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  2. TrishaD

    KISS

    A couple of years ago I was working with another large mobile phone company. I was discussing 3G technology with a colleague, an old telecoms hand. I voiced the opinion that 3G really wasnt taking off and wouldnt do until someone developed a 'killer app' that would give it mass appeal.

    'Its got one', he said, 'Its called voice' .....

    (Nokia 6310 user personally - its triband so I can use it anywhere in the world, it can do phone calls and text. What else would you want a mobile phone for that something else can do better?)

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  3. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Voda Billing

    I rather like the Vodafone billing system - I've been on a 6-month half price line rental now for about 14 months.

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  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    re: OK some more technically minded

    or at least those who can't workout why the phone bill would be so high

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  5. Michael
    Coat

    reminds me

    Must download a copy of "friends" sometime soon.

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  6. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Newbury was too small anyway - now they'll fit ..

    The Vodafone Newbury building was a bit of an embarrassment anyway. They hadn't even finished building it when they realised they were short of space already, so I guess with this reduction they may finally actually fit in :-).

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  7. Goose

    Well...

    ...at least my journey to work (through Newbury) will be slightly quicker in the morning.

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  8. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Vodafone are a bit late

    "Phone trainers" arrived in Orange shops years ago, for all the good it did. Maybe they were just ahead of their time?

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/10/30/welcome_to_orange_world/

    Paris knows what to do with a phone.

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  9. Anonymous Coward
    Pirate

    show and tell?

    Nevermind showing someone how to download a track off the internet, if these extra people can actually tell me how much it costs then that would be a start.

    e.g.

    Cost of internet access? fixed ? on what data amount ? and if i overrun ?

    And abroad how much then ?

    Also a call costs how much? And for a 0800 or 0845 ?

    (i pay 45p per minute for any 08 number, even free ones, since that is apparently my 'standard' call cost).

    If they stopped trying to actively confuse you in order to make it difficult to compare price plans then people might be more willing to do more with phones and trust phone companies more... they have only themselves to blame.

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  10. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    Datacentre consolidation

    VF have 15 datacentres in and around Newbury that they have been trying to consolidate down to ONE in Dublin for the past two years.

    Clearly it takes fewer people to run one DC than fifteen. Plus Dublin is run by the Germans, and VF UK and VF Europe have no trust relationship between them.

    It's a fecking nightmare.

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  11. oliver Stieber
    Thumb Up

    Great

    I live in Newbury, hopefully this will affect house prices.

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  12. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    What Staff?

    Since I have been promised a call back from someone on my "dedicated sales team" for the past two weeks and this hasn't happened despite 4 reminders by email and several phone calls, I wonder whether I'll notice any difference.

    Hellooo Team 8 - anyone there?

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  13. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    I'm not surprised at the shift in roles

    I feel for all the people losing their jobs in Newbury HQ, the problem is because Jo public has not, or doesn't seem to want to have a clue about how to use a mobile phone they constantly need spoon feeding hence extra staffing in Vodafone stores.

    The amusing thing is everyone is always so wrapped up about the networks getting this that and the other wrong no one ever stops an says maybe I could actually learn a few things like what model phone! they have!

    rant over.

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  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Best Little Phone Co. in Newbury

    It's going to be a hard candy Christmas, I guess.

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  15. At Risk
    Coat

    Latest headline on the Voda intranet...

    ...from the UK CEO is: "Out now - Nick's latest Video Message"

    Now that's what I call clear instructions from the top...

    (Just pop the redundancy cheque in the pocket, thanks)

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  16. the Accountant
    Happy

    Bye bye

    Incredible - I switched from Vodafone last week 'cos of the cr@p customer service, and now this happens.

    I never realised my power until now.

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  17. Peter

    Re: Newbury was too small anyway - now they'll fit .

    and it really didnt help when it flooded......

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  18. vodaworker

    Vodafone treats it staff like....

    Connect members in Vodafone are disgusted with the way in which the company is now treating its staff. Sadly we realised a few years ago that the company now sees its workers a little more than a commodity. For all the lip service given to “employee experience” actions prove that this is not a company that cares. Today we see a new low with the company treating staff with contempt.

    http://connectinvodafone.blogspot.com/

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  20. Gordon

    I just wish they'd realise....

    That the truth is that the government had them on 3g licences. The phone operators screwed up and paid a lot of money for something that is, effectively, worthless because virtually nobody (outside a few geeks) wants to download significant data or make video calls.

    I'm right in the target market for 3g (Geek, male, IT worker, middle income) and even I cannot be chuffed with it.

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  21. Greg
    Flame

    Jobs to Germany

    Most likely the jobs were moved to Germany since the labour laws mean they can't sack some of 28000 (ex-Mannesmann) employees they have there. They have been moving services and operations to Germany at an enormous rate for a few years now.

    Nice sleight of hand though, replace 450 full time, long term jobs with 330 part time casual jobs and the Register can't detect the reality. Hiring 330 to teach people mobile phones, ha.

    See those people wearing red coats outside the Vodafone stores lately ? Pestering you like a 'lucky heather gypsy', that is the new job.

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  22. John D

    Madonna?

    I've just upgraded my phone from a battered, weathered, slow old outdated barely functional phone that has seen far better days. So the last thing I want to do with my new phone is put madonna on it! haha

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  23. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    @Mark Wills

    Sheesh, progress - who'd have it eh?

    It's called a MOBILE phone because people didn't want to find a BT line every-time they wanted to speak to someone. It's also a PERSONAL device, unlike your landline that's a shared resource.

    It took less that 15 years from Mobiles being launched to when the public decided they HAD to have one, and people talk far more now on mobiles than they ever did on PSTN only.

    Now we have a thing called the INTERNET. 15 years ago it appeared and now with broadband and social networking etc, people have to have it. It too is moving from being a household resource to being a personal resource (multiple PCs per household, increasingly being laptops). Mobile Television, trick subject but hey, you never see a family car on the motorway without a couple of 7" screens in the back so, no, people can't wait to get home to watch video.

    Put the 2 things together and you see that people want an internet that's personal to them, and they want it wherever they are. Laptops are getting smaller, but I still can't seem to get one in my coat pocket.

    Mines the steam-powered one with the ludd-carrying red-flag waver walking in front!

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