C&W preps massive job cuts

Another huge round of job cuts is expected at Cable & Wireless Plc after the London, UK-based carrier asked trade unions for a meeting within the next three weeks. With revenue on the slide and shares that have lost two-thirds of their value in the past year, cost-cutting remains the only route to an improved performance.

An official of the Communications Workers Union told Reuters that employees were worried about another round of lay-offs though the company refused to comment ahead of the meeting. C&W currently has a workforce of around 25,000, half of whom work in its global operations, with the remainder at its regional telecoms unit.

Even though the workforce at global has been cut by 8,000 since December 2000, analysts are predicting that another 2,000 to 3,000 jobs could go there, particularly since the company plans to stop offering services to smaller, more labor-intensive customers.

Earlier this month, C&W said it expected second-half revenue in its global business to decline by about 6%, and that it was suffering from ruthless price-cutting in a sector itself suffering from considerable over-capacity.

© ComputerWire