Workers at Orange and Wanadoo in the UK are breathing a sigh of relief today following confirmation they will be spared from the 22,000 job cuts announced by France Telecom yesterday.

The shake-up at France Telecom comes as the firm struggles to cut its whopping debt mountain while facing a cut in traditional revenues.

The giant telco said 1,000 of the job cuts would come from outside of France, prompting speculation that Orange and Wanadoo in the UK could be forced to take its share of losses.

However, a spokeswoman for the giant telco has confirmed the UK is safe from the job axe.

She told The Reg, "We expect staffing numbers to remain stable at 15,500 employees" and that this number would "probably be about the same in three years time."

This assurance comes even as France Telecom prepares for a massive corporate makeover, scrapping the Wanadoo name and rebranding its internet operation under the Orange logo. Those plans were announced last year and, at the time, the UK was set to be of the first operations to undergo the name change.

However, there is still no word from France Telecom as to when these changes will be made. ®

Related stories

• Comment Orange rebrand a declaration of quadruple play war (8 June 2006)
• Wanadoo job cuts come despite assurances (5 May 2006)
• Wanadoo to kick off Orange makeover in May (28 April 2006)
• Voda eyes Tiscali, Bulldog (24 April 2006)
• Ofcom confirms continued cellco dominance (30 March 2006)
• Vodafone eyes fixed line service (20 March 2006)
• Orange puts the squeeze on customers (6 March 2006)
• Orange offers SMEs fixed line phone service (24 February 2006)
• Wanadoo trails Tiscali for UK broadband numbers (15 February 2006)
• France Telecom to axe 22,000 jobs (14 February 2006)
• France Telecom warns of sales slowdown (12 January 2006)
• French cellcos fined €534m for collusion (1 December 2005)
• France Telecom rejigs business structure (6 September 2005)
• Wanadoo to blow €200m on Orange name change (29 June 2005)
• Wanadoo brand to be scrapped (29 June 2005)