Virgin Media O2 to cut thousands of jobs, Sky News reports

Oct 31 (Reuters) - British telecoms operator Virgin Media O2, which is jointly owned by Liberty Global and Spain's Telefonica, will cut thousands of jobs in a sweeping shakeup, Sky News reported on Saturday, citing people close to the company.

• Up to 4,000 of Virgin Media O2's 16,000 employees could be affected, although the precise number of job cuts has yet to be finalised, the report said

• Most of the job cuts are expected to affect non-customer-facing roles, while a number of senior leadership changes are already under way, the report said

• Virgin Media O2 declined to comment on the report

• The company is also expected to review usage of contractors and suppliers in an effort to reduce costs, the report said

• The Financial Times reported in July that VMO2's owners were weighing options to reduce the company's £22 billion ($29.46 billion) debt pile

• In September, the Financial Times reported Virgin Media O2’s shareholders were seeking to reduce costs by about £600 million

($1 = 0.7468 pounds)

(Reporting by Angela Christy in Bengaluru; Editing by Joe Bavier)