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市场调查报告书
商品编码
1955539

电信业人才追踪报告（2025年第三季）

Telco Talent Tracker, 3Q25 - Workforce Continues Falling at Roughly 2% Per Year, Now 4.34 million: Average Telco Salary Rises, Approaching US$60K Per Year, Most Profitable Telcos Invest in Upskilling, Layoffs Not Clearly Linked to Profits
出版日期: | 出版商: MTN Consulting, LLC | 英文 | 订单完成后即时交付

价格

员工人数正以每年约2%的速度下降，目前为434万人；电信业平均薪资正在上涨，接近每年6万美元；获利的电信公司正在加大对技能发展的投资；裁员与获利能力之间没有明显的关联性。

本报告分析了全球电信业者的人才趋势，不仅提供了产业整体趋势的概述，也提供了公司层面的详细数据。对电信业者而言，对全球72家公司的劳动成本和生产力进行基准分析，有助于优化其劳动力转型和人工智慧整合策略。对于供应商而言，本报告识别出了劳动力成本比率和劳动力营运费用比率较高、利润率较低的电信营运商，并推荐了最佳解决方案部署方案，以提高营运效率并降低成本。对于投资者而言，本报告阐明了员工人数与获利能力之间的关联性（或缺乏关联性）。

本报告监测了全球电信业者产业的就业趋势。 MTN顾问公司对140家电信业者进行了调查，其中116家为活跃业者。本报告深入分析了72家领先营运商，这些营运商约占全球市场占有率的85%。数据涵盖2011年第一季至2025年第三季。

引言：自动化的必要性

随着全球电信业者收入成长放缓，业内最成功的公司正透过将重心从不切实际的成长预测转向积极的成本管理而取得成功。这项策略的核心是采用自动化、自主网路以及最近兴起的基于人工智慧的技术。 MTN顾问公司的电信人工智慧与自动化（TAIA）模组将深入探讨这项转型。

电信业正面临人才流失的困境，而这种趋势是结构性的。虽然自然减员、自愿退休和人员流失等因素导致员工总数减少，但 "普通" 员工的组成也在改变。 目前，电信业者正优先招募在软体编码、云端服务、人工智慧和量子运算领域拥有专业知识的人才。人工智慧尤其受到电信高阶主管的关注。儘管电信营运商长期以来一直致力于自动化外围流程，但许多营运商现在的目标是围绕人工智慧建立其业务基础。 Verizon 的新任执行长正在积极裁员，该公司在 2025 年第四季度财报电话会议上表示，其目标是成为业内“最高效的电信运营商”，为了实现这一目标，“我们将成为一家人工智能优先的公司，并坚定地推进人工智能的大规模应用。” 虽然其他电信高层也使用了类似的措辞，但现实情况是，充分利用现有员工才是成功的关键。培训和技能提升是必不可少的策略。 Swisscom 的执行长在最近一次第四季财报电话会议上表示： "随着数位化和人工智慧转型推动未来诸多变革，我们面临着非常严峻的商业环境。我们正在不断提升员工技能，以持续提高整体绩效。" 如今的成功取决于在现有员工技能提升和策略性招募新员工以满足数位化优先需求之间取得微妙的平衡。

主要发现：2025 年第三季分析

以下发现是基于 MTN Consulting 截至 2025 年 9 月的季度审查。

就业与劳动成本

  • 员工总数：2025 年第三季度，全行业就业人数为 4,344,000 人，较去年同期下降 1.8%（约 82,000 个工作岗位）。这符合长期逐步萎缩的趋势。多年来，员工人数一直依季度稳定下降，期间仅有一次短暂中断。受新冠肺炎疫情影响，2020年第一季就业人数急剧下降，但第二季略有回升。
  • 全球劳动成本：2025年第三季年化劳动成本为2,601亿美元。同期资本支出为2,948亿美元，包括折旧和摊提在内的营运支出为3,330亿美元。
  • 成本效益：2025年第三季度，人员费用占营运费用（不包括折旧和摊提）的比例为21.9%。这比2025年第二季的21.7%略有上升，但与2024年第三季持平。
  • 成本平衡：同时，2025年第三季全球电信业务年度收入构成如下：人员费用14.3%，折旧及摊提18.4%，其他所有营运费用51.2%，营业利润（息税前利润）16.1%。这一营业利润率将是自2014年第三季（年化）以来的最高水平，当时的营业利润率为16.8%。

覆盖范围：

全球数据基于我们的季度营运商追踪报告，涵盖 140 家营运商。

可对以下 72 家业者进行详细分析：

  • 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

目录

  • 1. 分析
  • 2. 员工数趋势
  • 3. 全球结果
  • 4. 企业业绩
  • 5. 排行榜
  • 6. 原始数据
  • 7. 关于本公司
Product Code: TAIA-24022026-1

Value proposition

This report analyzes 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. MTN Consulting covers 140 telcos in its research, including 116 active companies. This "talent tracker" report provides a deep dive analysis of 72 key telcos, who represent roughly 85% of the global market. Data coverage spans from 1Q11 through 3Q25.

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, autonomous networks, and, more recently, AI-based technologies. MTN Consulting's Telecom AI & Automation (TAIA) module explores this transition.

The telco workforce is shrinking, and this trend is structural. Factors such as layoffs, voluntary retirement, and natural attrition are eroding total numbers, and the "average" employee profile is evolving. Telcos now prioritize staff adept in software coding, cloud services, AI, and quantum computing. AI in particular has caught on in the telco C-suite. Telcos have been automating around the edges for years, but now many are seeking to position themselves around AI specifically. Verizon, whose new CEO is eagerly cutting heads, said on the company's 4Q25 earnings call that the company's goal is to be the "most efficient telecom company" in the industry, and to do so it is "determined to be an AI-first company, deploying AI at scale."

While many other telco execs use similar language, the reality is that they all have to leverage their existing staff in order to thrive. Training and upskilling are essential tactics. On its recent 4Q25 earnings call, Swisscom's CEO said it is "constantly upskilling...so that we can continue to improve the overall performance of our employee base going forward, as we have really [demanding] work going on with the digital and AI transformation driving a lot of the change going forward." 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 (US$1.1B) 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. The splash made by Verizon's new CEO since he joined in October 2025 is a good example. 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.

While layoffs aren't clearly linked to profits, workforce training may be. That's a working hypothesis. Consider the top 10 telcos based on their annualized EBIT per employee figures in 3Q25: Du, Batelco, Verizon, Zain KSA, Airtel, MTN Group, Omantel, STC, AT&T, and KPN. Most of these have vigorous training & upskilling programs aimed at evolving their workforce for new requirements. We will explore this further in future research.

Key findings: 3Q25 analysis

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

Employment & labor costs

  • Total headcount: The sector employed 4.344 million people in 3Q25, a 1.8% year-over-year decline (roughly 82,000 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 $260.1 billion in 3Q25. To put this in perspective, this compares to $294.8 billion in capex and $333.0 billion in depreciation opex for the same period.
  • Cost efficiency: As a percentage of opex (excluding D&A), labor costs were 21.9% in 3Q25, up slightly from 21.7% in 2Q25 but unchanged versus 3Q24.
  • Revenues mapped to costs: Alternatively, global annualized telco revenues in 3Q25 break down as follows: 14.3% to labor costs; 18.4% to depreciation and amortization; 51.2% to all other opex; and 16.1% as operating profit (EBIT). The EBIT portion is the highest since the 3Q14 annualized period, when EBIT/revenues was 16.8%.

Top workforce movers (3Q24-3Q25)

  • Biggest 1-year declines: The largest headcount drops between 3Q24 and 3Q25 were at Telefonica (down 10.1K employees), AT&T (-8.0K), BT (-7.9K), Charter Communications (-6.3K), China Mobile (-5.4K), and BCE (-5.2K). These are all big telcos with long-term plans for either workforce reductions or "streamlining." Automation has been a central part of headcount cuts at these and similar companies for many years; AI is only an after-thought. 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." However, the rate of workforce reduction has not accelerated in the face of AI; it's been about 2% per year since 2021.
  • Biggest 1-year gains: The largest headcount increases between 3Q24 and 3Q25 were at Airtel (+3.8K, 5G rollout hiring), Swisscom (+3.4K, acquisition of Vodafone Italia), KDDI (+3.4K, expansion in data center/AI, energy, fintech), MTS Russia (+3.1K, reorganization of digital/IT units), and America Movil (+3.0K, expanding fiber broadband rollout needs). When headcount growth occurs, the causes are usually acquisition or consolidation, short-term network rollout needs related to 5G or FTTH, and occasionally expansion into new market areas. The last driver is least common in telecom.
  • Biggest % changes in employment since 3Q24: These often result from spinoffs, asset sales, and M&A activity. Swisscom, for instance, grew headcount by 17.0% between 3Q24 and 3Q25 due to acquisition of Vodafone Italia. Airtel's 15.3% increase is due to 5G rollout support. AIS increased headcount by 11.7% due to its acquisition of fixed operator Triple T Broadband. The biggest percentage declines were at TDS Telecom (-42.1%, sale of affiliated wireless business to T-Mobile), Liberty Global (-29.8%, Sunrise spinoff), Axiata (-25.9%, portfolio optimization), Spark NZ (-25.2%, mix of layoffs and outsourcing to Nokia), and Africa's MTN Group (-18.2%, restructuring & portfolio optimization).

Profitability & performance

  • Labor costs/opex: Telcos spending the most on workforce, measured by labor costs as a percentage of opex (ex-D&A), include: Oi (64%), BSNL (46%), Turk Telekom (44%), Rostelecom (43%), and Telus (42%). Those spending the least include Softbank (6%), Taiwan Mobile (8%), Airtel (9%), 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 $59.4K in 3Q25, up from $51.2K 6 years prior in 3Q19. This growth is largely driven by rising salaries in emerging markets. For instance, China Telecom's average cost rose from $30K to $49K in that period.
  • EBIT per employee: This KPI is on a strong upward trajectory, growing from $49.3K in 3Q19 to $66.9K in 3Q25. On average, telco employees are generating 36% 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 3Q25, webscale headcount is now ~3% higher than that of the global telco sector.

Telcos tend to hire lots of people in two groups: network/IT engineers, and sales & customer support staff. Telcos will continue to need people in these areas for many years to come, but the needs are declining. Geographic and scale efficiencies, automation, autonomous networking, and now AI all are allowing the telco workforce to do more with less.

By contrast, webscalers continue to branch out and have more diverse hiring needs. They do hire plenty of software engineers, but that's not all. Some hire lots of logistics and fulfillment staff; some hire retail specialists. All key webscalers spend heavily on R&D, and in a number of different areas: robotics, drones, aerospace, quantum computing, gaming. Nowadays there is high demand in areas like chip and DC infrastructure design, cloud platform development, AI model training, etc. Telcos spend next to nothing on R&D, though, relying instead on their supply chain for innovation.

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

Table of Contents

  • 1. Analysis
  • 2. Headcount trends
  • 3. Global results
  • 4. Company results
  • 5. Rankings
  • 6. Raw data
  • 7. About

List of Figures and Charts

Headcount tab

  • Telco sector: Headcount and YoY % change
  • Telco sector: QoQ change in headcount (K)
  • Telcos: Biggest headcount changes, 3Q24 to 3Q25 (employees)
  • Telcos: Biggest headcount changes, 3Q22 to 3Q25 (employees)
  • Telcos: Biggest headcount changes, 3Q24 to 3Q25 (1 yr % change)
  • Telcos: Biggest headcount changes, 3Q22 to 3Q25 (3 yr % change)

Global tab

  • Global market: Breakdown of costs over time vs. headcount
  • YoY % change in key metrics, 3Q25 (single quarter basis)
  • YoY % change in key metrics, 3Q25 (annualized basis)
  • Telco market: Labor costs, D&A opex, and capex ($B, annualized)
  • Telco market: Labor costs, D&A opex, and capex (% of revenues, annualized)
  • Telco market: Total employees (K) and YoY % change
  • Telco market: Quarterly sequential change in headcount (K employees)
  • Telco market: Employees vs. Revenue per employee (annualized)
  • Telco market: Employees vs. Labor cost per employee (annualized)
  • Labor costs as a % of opex ex-D&A, annualized: Key telcos vs. global average
  • Headcount by region: Telcos based in US, Europe, and China (K)
  • Labor cost variation: Verizon, China Mobile, and Orange vs. global avg ($K/yr, annualized)
  • Headcount by region: Telcos based in US, Europe, and China (% global)
  • Telco earnings as % of revenues, global average (annualized)
  • Telco earnings per employee, global average ($k/yr, annualized)
  • Telco vs. Webscale: Revenue per employee ($K/yr, annualized)
  • Telco vs. Webscale: # of employees (K)

Company tab [for each of 72 telcos, following charts are included]:

  • Revenues mapped to costs, vs. headcount
  • YoY % change in key metrics, 3Q25 (single quarter basis)
  • YoY % change in key metrics, 3Q25 (annualized basis)
  • Labor costs, D&A opex, and capex ($B, annualized)
  • Labor costs, D&A opex, and capex (% of revenues, annualized)
  • Total employees (K) and YoY % change
  • Quarterly sequential change in headcount (K employees)
  • Employees vs. Revenue per employee (annualized)
  • Employees vs. Labor cost per employee (annualized)
  • Labor costs as a % of opex ex-D&A, annualized: [company] vs. global average
  • EBIT (operating) profit margin: [company] vs. global average (annualized)
  • EBIT per employee: [company] vs. global average ($k/yr)

Rankings tab

  • Labor costs to capex ratio: Telcos ranked, high to low, for 3Q25 annualized period
  • Telcos ranked high to low based on:
    • Labor costs, % opex ex-D&A (3Q25 annualized)
    • Labor costs, % total opex
    • Labor costs, % of revenue
    • D&A, % total opex
    • All other opex, % total
    • EBIT margin
    • EBITDA margin
    • Capex intensity
  • Telcos ranked high to low, based on:
    • Revenue per employee
    • Labor cost per employee
    • EBIT per employee