Alcatel's Tchuruk May Have to Cut More Jobs as Slump Deepens
By Molly Schuetz
quote.bloomberg.com
Paris, April 25 (Bloomberg) -- Alcatel SA Chief Executive Officer Serge Tchuruk may have to slash more jobs, following rivals Ericsson AB and Lucent Technologies Inc., as a slump in demand for phone equipment deepens, investors said.
The 64-year-old Tchuruk has already announced plans to eliminate more than 32,000 workers, or a third of the workforce, as he tries to return Europe's biggest maker of network gear to profit after a record loss in 2001. That may not be enough.
In the past week Ericsson, Nokia Oyj, Lucent and other competitors said they'll cut about 30,000 jobs -- on top of the more than 200,000 reductions announced last year -- as prospects fade for an industry recovery in 2002. Tchuruk last week reported a preliminary first-quarter loss of about 850 million euros.
``We'll probably see more cost cutting'' from Tchuruk, said Ollie Beckett, who helps manage about 10 billion pounds ($14 billion) at Henderson Investors in London, including Alcatel shares. ``He's going to have to. Their end customers are still pretty weak and are cutting investment.'' |
