With exception of the opening paragraph, which is only partly true - and already known by the OP the rest of the post you and I have quoted is factually inaccurate.

Yes offering voluntary redundancy (and actually sending engineers to mjquinn for interview) as they are outsourcing their needs
Openreach hope to make 55,000 employees redundant and get engineer levels down to below 10,000 staff

are you saying these 55,000 staff are just PTSN staff that dont want to move from system x

are you saying these 55,000 staff are just PTSN staff that dont want to move from system x

No, I am saying your statement,

making many of their engineers redundant

, is incorrect. They are being offered EVR.

That these are PSTN only staff is further flim-flam.

With BT massively recruiting over more recent years so they could deliver FTTP to the masses, it was always going to be the case that once they had got to a significant point in that rollout they would need to reduce their staffing numbers backdown again. Glad to hear they started with Early Voluntary Redundancy first rather than going straight to Compulsory Redundancy.

There was always bound to be a reduction in Openreach Staff after the FTTP Rollout is complete because FTTP will require much less ongoing infrastructure repairs than the old FTTC systems did because FTTP is far more reliable.

Years ago, it always seemed ridiculous to me that many years after the rest of the EU had fully embraced FTTP that Openreach/BT were allowed to still hold on tightly to FTTC and they were reluctant to roll out FTTP.

It was always the case that all of the good legislation came out of the EU and all of the [censored] came out of Westminster but in 2016 in a Gerry Mandered Referendum in which a paddling 17.4 million people out of a possible 66 million people, (about 37%), voted to leave the EU in an ADVISORY referendum the idiots in Westminster forced us to leave.

At least our government eventually saw sense and they pressed Openreach/BT etc. to roll out FTTP.

Like it or not FTTP is coming and just as King Canute could not hold back the tide, eventually, most of those who are reluctant to have FTTP will have very few alternative but at the end of the day FTTP is much better from an internet viewpoint.

There is a case to be made with regard to landline phones for vulnerable people and I am not sure how that will be accommodated.

Edited by Fido (Fri 11-Sep-26 22:35:32)

Not sure that the choice of signing up for 'voluntary' redundancy with enhanced terms or being made compulsory redundant on government minimum terms in three months time is much of a choice. Or that voluntary.

Edited by FibreBubble (Fri 11-Sep-26 21:41:54)

It also seems funny that if these jobs dont exist due to end of fttp rollout why they are contracting mj quinn to do the work and getting openreach emplotees jobs at mjquinn.

In reply to a post by pyarwood:

It also seems funny that if these jobs dont exist due to end of fttp rollout why they are contracting mj quinn to do the work and getting openreach employees jobs at mjquinn.

This is standard practice, downsizing and using third party resource to fill any temporary gaps isn't surprising specially when you consider Openreach's technology road map.

I should also add that large employers who are making people redundant often employ recruitment companies to work on a one to one basis with staff affected to help them find new jobs, I know of one employer who provided this service for a year after the redundancy and also offered to pay for training to facilitate a career change.

Edited by PCJM40 (Sat 19-Sep-26 15:59:39)