Verizon to Trim `Equivalent' of 10,000 Jobs in 2002 (Update4)
By Dana Cimilluca
quote.bloomberg.com
Orlando, Florida, March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Verizon Communications Inc., the biggest U.S. local-phone company, will eliminate the ``equivalent'' of 10,000 jobs this year to lower costs as sales growth slows, co-Chief Executive Officer Ivan Seidenberg said.
The reductions add to the equivalent of 29,000 jobs cut last year, he said at an investor conference in Orlando, Florida. Verizon ended 2001 with 247,000 employees, down 16,000 from the previous year. That doesn't include equivalent headcount, which the company said includes overtime and contractors.
Seidenberg, who didn't say how many workers will be fired, is paring expenses after sales rose less than 1 percent in the fourth quarter, down from 2.8 percent in the third. Rivals including Qwest Communications International Inc. cut jobs and capital spending in the past year as demand failed to meet expectations.
Verizon and other large regional phone companies ``are not in great shape because of the softer economy,'' said Lowell Miller of Miller/Howard Investments Inc., which manages $300 million and owns 170,000 Verizon shares. |
