Level 3 starts round 2 of layoffs: 60 UK workers to lose jobs
Internet backbone provider plans to axe 700 workers worldwide
5 ways to prepare your advertising infrastructure for disaster
Major internet network operator Level 3 Communications will be axing 60 people in the UK – amounting to five per cent of its British workforce. Altogether, 700 L3 workers are being axed worldwide.
Sources told The Register that the company had failed to hit its targets in Europe and the UK and that customer satisfaction with Level 3 was at an all-time low.
In a message to employees seen by The Register, EMEA regional president James Heard blamed poor revenue growth in the region for the layoffs, which will take place by the end of this month. He said that the company expected to let 60 people go in the UK and another 20 from its European operations.
"While we continue to prioritise non-headcount reduction actions, they are not sufficient to align our overall cost structure with the slower-than-expected revenue growth that we have been experiencing," he said.
The European redundancies come after the international firm warned that it would be letting 700 of its 10,600-strong workforce go across North and Latin America and Europe. Jeff Storey, chief exec of Level 3, said in a statement that the company needed to streamline its business to improve profit growth.
"Decisions that affect people are extremely difficult," he said. "In many ways, our people are our business, but we are making these hard decisions today to improve our competitive position and success going forward."
This is Level 3's second round of staffing cuts since its 2011 acquisition of rival Global Crossing. The combined companies last year employed nearly 11,000 people.
Level 3 has not recorded any profits since at least 2008. ®
