Nortel Chops Almost 3,000 Jobs
Posted February 7, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
So many people have lost their jobs at Nortel that it’s hard to believe they have room to cut anyone else.
But the former investment darling of the markets is planning to let another 2,900 workers go this year and next, as its so-called business transformation continues.
About 70 percent of the positions will disappear before the end of 2007 and another 1,000 jobs will be relocated to locations where labour costs are cheaper.
It’s the second major job shedding move for the high tech company that was brought low when the tech bubble burst several years ago. It announced an additional 1,100 people would be sent packing last June.
There’s no word on how many employees in Canada will be affected, but 8,000 people work for the firm at its Brampton and Ottawa headquarters. Company officials admit some of those lost positions will be felt here.
The move comes one day after Nortel revealed its chief financial officer Peter Currie will resign effective April 30. Tellingly, no successor has been named.
“We are transforming Nortel and are focused on building a highly competitive organization that drives innovation and profitable growth,” CEO Mike Zafirovski explained, trumpeting the company line. “Every effort will be made to leverage normal attrition and redeploy affected employees to other areas of the company.”
The total cost of the downsizing could reach as much as US$390 million.
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