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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
John Siddle

BT boss pockets nearly £10million in three years while he plans to axe staff for robots

The BT boss planning to replace staff with robots has trousered nearly ­£10million in just three years.

Fat cat Philip Jansen was handed £3.24million in 2020, £2.62m in 2021 and £3.46m in 2022, accounts reveal.

And this year, he looks set for bonus and share payouts worth up to 200% of his £1.1m basic wage – despite a 12% dip in profits over the past year to £1.7billion.

We analysed his pay after it emerged up to 55,000 staff face the axe in the next seven years with some roles to be taken over by artificial intelligence. BT pays its customer service advisors as little as 10.98 per hour, or £9.19 for apprentices.

The business boss has been chief executive officer (CEO) of BT since February 2019 (Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Shadow Minister for Employment Rights Justin Madders said: “I am sure many losing their jobs would have quite a lot to say to Mr Jansen when his pay seems to be climbing ever higher.”

And Lib Dem Treasury spokeswoman Sarah Olney added: “It is a kick in the teeth for those who have lost their job to see the CEO making millions in bonuses and pay.

"The cost of living crisis is causing pain for so many and these cuts will be a hammer blow for communities. The BT CEO needs to look at himself in the mirror after this latest decision.”

BT, founded in 1846, has operations in around 180 countries (PA)

Last year, staff dubbed Jansen, 56, “food bank Phil” in reference to a food bank set up for workers in a North Tyneside call centre. BT is exploring the use of AI and Jansen was asked last week if customers will talk to robots rather than people.

He replied: “We have 450 stores and that’s not planning on changing. There are plenty of opportunities for customers to deal with people at BT.”

A BT Group spokesman said: “The job reductions we announced are not cuts but a gradual change to the company over several years. As we finish building new networks, some jobs will end but we will reskill and redeploy our team wherever possible.”

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