US telecoms giant Sprint is to shed 700 sales and support jobs as it continues to jiggle its business about.

In a statement issued today the company said that the job losses would be achieved "through attrition, voluntary separations and layoffs". However, those facing the chop can expect to receive a wedge and other benefits.

Sprint also said that it would take a financial hit reducing the value of its long-distance network because of "competitive conditions, recent regulatory rulings [and] evolving technologies". However, the extent of that is being kept under wraps until Sprint publishes its Q3 results next week.

In June Sprint announced that it was culling 1,100 jobs in response to being squeezed by the "highly competitive" long distance market. Some 850 jobs were erased from its Sprint Business Solutions (SBS) unit while a further 250 corporate jobs supporting SBS were also scrubbed out

A week ago AT&T announced that its plans to cease marketing traditional consumer services would result in the loss of further 7,400 jobs.

The US telecoms giant had already planned to cull around 4,900 jobs during 2004 - a cut of around eight per cent of its workforce. But in an update it warned that it would "significantly exceed its previously estimated workforce-reduction target...[and] now expects to reduce total headcount by more than 20 per cent in 2004". ®

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