BT has cut almost 8,000 jobs since the end of March as it pushes ahead with sweeping cost reductions across the business.

The telecoms group said its workforce had fallen by 7,731 to 90,000, excluding staff in its international business, which is being spun out in a joint venture with the US telecoms company Verizon. It had a workforce of about 130,000 people, including contractors, two years ago.

Most of the cuts have been at BT’s Openreach division as the buildout of its fibre network slows, as well as through a drive to slash billions in costs by 2030.

The huge cuts helped BT increase its pre-tax profit by 12% year on year to £1.1bn in the six months to the end of September.

BT shares, which are listed in London, shot up by as much as 6% in early trading on Thursday, touching a five-year high and ranking it among the best performers across the FTSE 100.

Allison Kirkby, who had been a BT board member and became chief executive in February 2024, has overseen the cost-cutting programme across the business. This year she said BT would raise its savings target from £3bn by 2029 to £3.7bn by 2030.

The group’s headcount is now expected to end the decade at between 75,000 and 80,000, towards the lower end of an estimated range of 75,000 to 90,000 set out in 2023. At that time it said the introduction of AI across its business could result in the elimination of the equivalent of about 10,000 roles.

Kirkby’s pay and bonus package more than doubled last year to £5.6m, the biggest pay award to a boss of the telecoms company in more than a decade. Shares in BT have risen by more than 70% since she started in her role.

Kirkby has also overseen the £400m takeover of its struggling smaller rival TalkTalk. She said on Thursday she was unable to provide any details on plans for the business as the deal was still under regulatory review.

TalkTalk, which is headquartered in Salford in Greater Manchester, employs about 900 people. The rescue deal secured telecoms supply to 2.5m households and vital public sector customers including hospitals and schools.

Virgin Media O2 (VMO2), which had also looked at buying TalkTalk, reacted angrily to the deal at the time, calling it a “stitch-up” that it said would further boost BT’s dominant position.

BT is the biggest broadband provider in the UK, with a market share of about 30%, according to estimates by Enders Analysis. Openreach, the broadband network owned by BT, is TalkTalk’s biggest supplier.

The company told investors on Thursday it had record demand for Openreach’s full-fibre network, so far rolled out to 24.1m homes. It is targeting 25m by the end of the year.

VMO2 announced plans to cut thousands of jobs in an £800m savings drive earlier this week.