Deutsche Telekom to axe 1,200 jobs

German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom is to cut 1,200 administrative jobs in Germany by June 30, a spokesman told AFP on Thursday, confirming media reports. The job cuts -- aimed at saving 100 million euros ($133 million) per year -- would be made in the personnel, accounting, auditing and marketing departments. Many of these positions had become superfluous when Telekom pooled its two subsidiaries T-Home and T-Mobile back in 2010, the spokesman explained. The cuts, however, would not entail any forced redundancies and be implemented voluntarily via measures such as early retirement, he added. The new round of cuts come on top of plans to axe around 1,300 administrative jobs -- or 40 percent of its administrative staff -- at Telekom's headquarters in Bonn by 2015. Telekom employs a workforce of 75,000 in Germany and more than 230,000 worldwide. Chief executive Rene Obermann and his designated successor Timotheus Hoettges, who takes over in 2014, are looking to cut personnel costs in order to free up additional financing for the expansion of its high-speed networks in Germany. Telekom has earmarked investments of 30 billion euros in its networks over the next three years.