Telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent was planning to cut 15,000 jobs, mostly overseas, while creating 5,000 as part of cost-cutting measures, a news report said late Monday.
A meeting of the French-US company’s European management committee was to be held Tuesday, French daily Les Echos reported online, without naming its sources.
The telco giant makes hardware, software and infrastructure for fixed line, mobile and internet telecommunications, but has struggled to make a profit since the merger of French firm Alcatel and the US company Lucent in 2006, posting a net loss of —1.37 billion euros (1.87 billion dollars) in 2012.
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It employed 72,000 people worldwide as of December, down from 78,000 two years earlier. The next round of cuts was to hit 4,100 jobs in the region of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, including 900 in France, as well as 3,800 in Asia—Pacific, and 2,100 in the Americas, the report said, Investors have been optimistic about the company’s fortunes this year, with stocks rallying around 170 per cent since the arrival of new chief executive Michel Combes in April.
In addition to the cost-saving restructuring, Alcatel-Lucent has signed major contracts with Spanish—based Telefonica SA and China Mobile Limited.