Deutsche Telekom to slash call centres: Report

BERLIN: Germany's Deutsche Telekom, the biggest telecoms group in Europe, intends to shut nearly half its call centres in Germany, according to a report due out Monday in the Focus newsweekly.

Its chief executive Rene Obermann has already told the mayors of the communities concerned about the plans that will see the elimination of thousands of jobs, the magazine said.

It added that a group announcement would be made on Thursday.

In a statement, Deutsche Telekom confirmed it wants to consolidate its call centres into a smaller number of "modern and competitive" facilities, adding that there would be no outsourcing abroad.

Headquartered in Bonn, Deutsche Telekom has 60 call centres with a total of 18,000 employees. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the richest and most populous German state, four out of nine call centres will face closure.

Deutsche Telekom announced in 2005 that it would eliminate 32,000 jobs by this year. It employed 242,000 in 50-odd countries at the end of 2007, with 150,000 of those positions in Germany.