Image via Alcatel-Lucent on Flickr
Telecoms equipment giant Alcatel-Lucent is planning to reduce its staff by 10,000 people as part of a cost-cutting drive to save €1bn. While the company will axe 15,000 positions, it will create 5,000 new ones, French newspapers report.
Alcatel-Lucent employs 72,000 people worldwide.
According to reports in Les Echos and Le Figaro, the cuts will impact all regions, with 4,100 cuts planned in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with a further 3,800 in Asia and 2,100 in the Americas.
In France, the company intends to cut 10pc of the domestic workforce – or 900 positions – as well as closing sites at Rennes and Toulouse and selling plants at Eu and Ormes.
According to Reuters, the cuts are part of new CEO Michel Combes’ strategy to focus on fewer projects and reverse losses.
The company last year reported a net loss of €1.2bn due to a writedown on its mobile unit and an earlier restructuring plan to lay off 5,000 workers.
In June, Combes announced a separate €1bn plan to sell off unspecified assets in order to make the company leaner to compete with rivals like Sweden’s Ericsson, China’s Huawei and Finland’s Nokia.
