Ericsson stays mum on reports of fresh job cuts
By Reuters staff
17 April 2001
Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson had no comment on Tuesday on newspaper reports it would announce more job cuts to return to profitability amid slowing global demand.
The Financial Times said on Tuesday that Ericsson would announce further sackings of 6,000 people when it releases its first-quarter results on Friday to follow cuts announced in March.
Sweden's Dagens Industri business daily said Ericsson employees were worried as many as 30,000 people would get the sack in Ericsson operations worldwide, which would cut the firm's workforce by almost one third.
"We are in the silent period before the results on Friday so I cannot comment on these reports," said Ericsson's press manager Mads Madsen.
Ericsson, the world's largest maker of mobile networks and the third biggest handset supplier, said in March it was axing 3,300 jobs in Sweden and Britain as it unveiled cost-cutting measures aimed at saving $2 billion a year from 2002.
Economic slowdown in the United States has triggered a rash of warnings on performance and aggressive job losses throughout the telephone equipment manufacturing sector.
Motorola Inc, the world's second largest mobile phone maker, last week said it was expecting a wider second-quarter loss than in the first quarter and has announced plans to cut back some 22,000 jobs this year.
World number one telecoms equipment maker Nortel Networks Corp of Canada plans to lay off 15,000 staff by mid-2001 as it struggles with pricing pressure from competitors.
Last month Ericsson said it had frozen all hiring and would substantially reduce the number of its current global 15,000 consultants, in some areas by more than half.
It also said additional measures would be announced when the full cost-cutting programme was outlined on April 20.
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