Lucent Technologies - the telecoms equipment outfit - is to axe 7,000 jobs in the face of a continued slump in the telecoms market.

All those hit by the job losses can expect to be left out in the cold by the end of the year.

The job cuts - designed to save the company $700m a year - will reduce the company's headcount from 53,000 to 46,000.

Last year the company employed 106,000.

News of the job losses came as Lucent reported that revenue for the third quarter of 2002 had halved to $2.95bn, compared with $5.89bn in the same quarter last year.

The company also reported a $7.91bn loss for the quarter, compared to a loss of $3.24bn in the same quarter a year ago.

The company blamed this latest round of poor figures on the prolonged downturn in the telecoms industry.

Said Lucent chief exec, Patricia Russo: "The market continues to be very challenging. Capital spending constraints have intensified and remained in place much longer than anyone would have predicted." ®