Alcatel-Lucent reportedly to reduce workforce by 10,000 jobs
The struggling network equipment maker will cut its workforce by about 14 percent in an effort to trim $1 billion in costs, European newspapers report.
Alcatel-Lucent plans to reduce its workforce by 10,000 jobs, or about 14 percent, in a cost-cutting effort to turn around the struggling network equipment maker, according to reports by European newspapers Monday.
The company, which counted 72,000 posts among its global workforce in December, plans to cut 15,000 positions while creating 5,000 new jobs, according to Les Echos and Le Figaro. The cuts are reportedly part of an effort to trim 1 billion euros ($1.36 billion) in expenditures unveiled by Alcatel-Lucent CEO Michel Combes, who took over the helm of the Franco-American network equipment maker in April.
An Alcatel-Lucent representative confirmed the job cuts in a statement.
Combes took over for Ben Verwaayen, who resigned in February after four years at the helm, trying to turn around the fortunes of the Paris-based telecommunications equipment maker. However, the company, which was formed by a merger of the two former rivals in 2006, has struggled to compete with the likes of Sweden's Ericsson and Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei.
For 2012, the company recorded a net loss of 1.2 billion euros, its seventh consecutive year of negative cash flow.
Updated at 10/8 8:25 a.m. PT with Alcatel-Lucent confirmation.