CyberWorks Plans to Reduce Staff In London at Network of the World
February 2, 2001
Business and Finance - Asia
CyberWorks Plans to Reduce Staff In London at Network of the World
A WSJ.COM News Roundup
HONG KONG -- Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd. said
Friday that it is planning to cut some of its London-based
staff at its broadband-satellite and cable-based network
entertainment Network of the World, or NOW.
As many as 30 of the Internet and telecommunications' 50
employees based in West London, are expected to lose
their jobs, according to the Financial Times, which reported
the layoff plan in its Friday edition.
"Because the consultation process is
proceeding, we cannot be specific
about the numbers of people
involved," a prepared CyberWorks
statement said in response to the FT
report. "However, these reductions
will affect a proportion of the 50
PCCW staff employed at the facility,"
CyberWorks said.
CyberWorks recently slashed its five-year
content-production budget for NOW by a third, to US$1
billion from US$1.5 billion. CyberWorks also said it "has
already reported that broadband deployment in most
non-Asia markets has lagged behind forecasts."
NOW's English-language content-production facilities are
based in London, while CyberWorks is setting up studios in
Hong Kong and Taiwan to produce Chinese-language
content. Its separate units are also rolling out services in
India and Japan.
The job cuts are part of a global trend of companies scaling
back Internet-related investments that began last year.
Job Cuts at Skynet
Another Hong Kong-based dot-com company, Skynet
(International Group) Holdings Ltd. also announced job cuts
at its subsidiary Web sites
Job losses in the Hong Kong Internet sector were in excess
of 1,000 since last year. Higher-profile victims included
tycoon Li Ka-shing's Internet portal Tom.com Ltd. and
media giant Jimmy Lai's online retailer Admart.
The number was however still small, compared with near to
13,000 dot-com job losses in the U.S. in January alone,
setting a record high.
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