Telco Talent Tracker, 2Q25 - Total Employees Down 1.9% YoY from 2Q24: Headcount Dropping by ~20K per Quarter, Dips to 4.36 Million in 2Q25, Layoffs an Easy Symbolic Move for CFOs, but No Clear Link with Margin Growth

Value proposition

This report provides a critical analysis of the global telecommunications operator (telco) workforce, offering both a high-level view of industry shifts and granular, company-level data. For telcos, the report enables benchmarking of labor costs and productivity against 72 global peers, which can help optimize workforce transformation and AI integration strategies. For vendors, the report pinpoints telcos with high labor costs or labor-to-opex ratios and stagnant margins, identifying prime targets for solutions that drive operational efficiency and cost reduction. For investors, it clarifies the link (or lack thereof) between headcount and profitability.

Scope

This study monitors global employment dynamics within the telecommunications operator sector. The scope includes approximately 140 telcos tracked by MTN Consulting, featuring detailed analysis for 72 key operators representing roughly 85% of the global market. Data coverage spans from 1Q11 through 2Q25.

Introduction: The automation imperative

While global telecom revenues have remained flat, the industry's most successful players are thriving by shifting their focus from unrealistic growth projections to aggressive cost management. Central to this strategy is the adoption of automation and, more recently, AI-based technologies. MTN Consulting's Telecom AI & Automation (TAIA) module explores this transition through the lens of headcount and labor costs.

The telco workforce is shrinking, and this trend is structural. Factors such as layoffs, voluntary retirement, and natural attrition are eroding total numbers, yet the "average" employee profile is evolving. Telcos now prioritize staff adept in software coding, cloud services, AI, and quantum computing. Success today depends on a delicate balance of retraining existing staff and strategic new hiring to meet these digital-first requirements.

The layoff paradox

Big-ticket layoff announcements frequently dominate the headlines. Verizon's late 2025 plan for a 15% workforce reduction remains the most significant recent move. Over the last 12 months, other major cuts were announced by AT&T, BCE, T-Mobile US, and Charter/Cox in the Americas; BT, Telefonica, and Vodafone in Europe; and Telstra in Asia-Pacific.

Operators often frame these cuts as essential for competition and profit. For example, BCE's November 2025 plan to cut 700 staff was presented as a "difficult but necessary decision" to support a C$1.5 billion cost-savings goal through 2028. However, our data reveals no direct correlation between headcount reductions and margin surges, even when accounting for a multi-quarter lag.

For many telcos, layoffs serve as a form of "virtue signaling" to reassure Wall Street of their commitment to cost reduction and dividends. While drastic cuts can occasionally preserve near-term cash flow, simply reducing headcount is rarely a silver bullet. CxOs who rush to issue pink slips in response to the rise of AI risk creating talent gaps that lead to cybersecurity vulnerabilities, increased churn, or the loss of innovative capacity.

Key findings: 2Q25 analysis

The following insights are based on MTN Consulting's quarterly review through June 2025.

Employment & labor costs

• Total headcount: The sector employed 4.357 million people in 2Q25, a 1.9% year-over-year decline (roughly 84,000 positions). This aligns with long-term trends of steady contraction. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, headcount has fallen steadily for years, with only one interruption: after a dramatic dip in 1Q20 when COVID hit, employment levels rose slightly in 2Q20.
• Global labor costs: Annualized labor costs were $258.1 billion in 2Q25. To put this in perspective, this compares to $292.9 billion in capex and $329.0 billion in depreciation opex for the same period.
• Cost efficiency: As a percentage of opex (excluding D&A), labor costs were 21.7% in 2Q25, unchanged from 1Q25 but down slightly from 22.2% in 2Q24.
• Revenues mapped to costs: Alternatively, global annualized telco revenues in 2Q25 break down as follows: 14.4% to labor costs; 18.3% to depreciation and amortization; 51.8% to all other opex; and 15.5% as operating profit (EBIT).

Top workforce movers (2Q24-2Q25)

• Biggest 1-year declines: The largest headcount drops between 2Q24 and 2Q25 were at Telefonica (down 10.6K employees), AT&T (-8.5K), BT (-7.2K), Charter Communications (-6.4K), and Grupo Televisa (-4.5K). Of these five, BT's CEO has been most explicit about AI's impact, stating that BT's 2023 plan to cut up to 55,000 workers by 2030 may be too conservative, as it does "not reflect the full potential of AI", adding that "depending on what we learn from AI...there may be an opportunity to be even smaller by the end of the decade."
• Biggest 1-year gains: The largest headcount increases between 2Q24 and 2Q25 were at KDDI (+16.4K) (expansion in data center/AI, energy, fintech); Etisalat aka "e&" (+11.5K); Airtel (+9.1K) (5G expansion); Masorange (+8.2K, due to ownership structure changes); MTS Russia (+7.5K) (reorganization of digital/IT units); Telus (+7.4K) (expansion at Telus Digital unit). KDDI and Etisalat (e&) are most directly investing in data center expansions and AI, driving their employee growth.
• Biggest % changes in employment: Many result from spinoffs, asset sales, and M&A activity. Liberty Global, for instance, saw headcount fall 30.2% between 2Q24 and 2Q25 due to spinning off its Swiss unit Sunrise in late 2024, plus voluntary redundancy packages in 2025. Conversely, Thailand's AIS saw headcount grow 26.5% in the same timeframe, largely due to its acquisition of fixed operator Triple T Broadband.

Profitability & performance

• Labor costs/opex: Telcos spending the most on workforce, measured by labor costs as a percentage of opex (ex-D&A), include: BSNL (46%), Turk Telekom (44%), Rostelecom (43%), Telus (42%), and Grupo Televisa (40%). Those spending the least include Softbank (6%), Taiwan Mobile (8%), Airtel (8%), True Corp (9%), and TPG Telecom (11%). Companies with low labor costs tend to have high external costs, such as interconnection, roaming, facility leasing, or outsourced sales and marketing to partners or franchises. Those with high labor costs often have complicated histories as incumbent providers, high pension costs, high unionization rates, and may own substantial infrastructure leased to others. Some also conduct their own R&D and design, such as Chunghwa, BT, Orange, and NTT.
• Labor cost per employee: The global average rose to $58.8K in 2Q25, up from $50.7K in 2019. This is largely driven by rising salaries in emerging markets. For instance, China Mobile's average cost rose from $29K to $47K in that period.
• EBIT per employee: This KPI is on a strong upward trajectory, growing from $49.6K in 2019 to $63.6K in 2Q25. On average, telco employees are generating 28% more profit per person than they were six years ago.

The Webscale Crossover

In 1Q11, the telco sector employed nearly four times as many people as the webscale sector. Following years of rapid hyperscale growth and telco consolidation, the two sectors reached parity in 2Q24. As of 2Q25, webscale headcount is now 3% higher than that of the global telco sector.

Coverage

Global figures are based on quarterly telco tracker, which covers 140 telcos

Deep dive analysis for the following 72 telcos:

• A1 Telekom Austria
• Advanced Info Service (AIS)
• Airtel
• Altice Europe
• America Movil
• AT&T
• Axiata
• Batelco
• BCE
• Bezeq Israel
• Bouygues Telecom
• BSNL
• BT
• China Mobile
• China Telecom
• China Unicom
• Chunghwa Telecom
• Cyfrowy Polsat
• Deutsche Telekom
• Du
• Entel
• Etisalat
• Globe Telecom
• Grupo Televisa
• Iliad SA
• KDDI
• KPN
• KT
• LG Uplus
• Megafon
• Millicom
• Mobile Telesystems
• MTN Group
• NTT
• Oi
• Omantel
• Ooredoo
• Orange
• PCCW
• PLDT
• Proximus
• Quebecor Telecommunications
• Rogers
• Rostelecom
• Safaricom Limited
• Singtel
• SK Telecom
• SoftBank
• Spark New Zealand Limited
• StarHub
• STC (Saudi Telecom)
• Swisscom
• Taiwan Mobile
• Tata Communications
• Telecom Argentina
• Telecom Egypt
• Telecom Italia
• Telefonica
• Telenor
• Telia
• Telkom Indonesia
• Telkom SA
• Telstra
• Telus
• TPG Telecom Limited
• True Corp
• Turk Telekom
• Turkcell
• Verizon
• Vodafone
• Zain
• Zain KSA