Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2013/10/08/alcatel_lucent_job_losses/
Alcatel-Lucent slashes 10,000 jobs worldwide
Axe swings high in EMEA as troubled telco seeks out profits
Posted in Channel, 8th October 2013 12:58 GMT
Alcatel Lucent has confirmed it will axe 10,000 employees worldwide as part of a bid to cut €1bn (£850m) in fixed costs by the end of 2015.
The loss-making telecoms equipment maker will actually be letting 15,000 staff members go, but has said it will create 5,000 new jobs in areas where it thinks it can grow.
The cuts will see its workforce reduced by a seventh, as it loses 4,100 positions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 3,800 in Asia Pacific and 2,100 in the Americas. Its domestic market France will lose 900 staff members, mostly from support, admin and sales positions, the firm said.
The company hasn't made a profit since Alcatel and Lucent merged back in 2006 and is now restructuring under its latest chief exec Michel Combes in what it's calling "The Shift Plan".
Under the new money-making plan, the company will try to reposition itself as an expert in IP networking, cloud and ultra-broadband access.
"We launched The Shift Plan in June to give Alcatel-Lucent an industrially sustainable future," Combes said in a canned statement.
"To carry out this plan we must make difficult decisions and we will make them with open and transparent dialogue with our employees and their representatives." ®