Telecommunications equipment maker Lucent Technologies is laying off 20 people at its Irish operations, which have escaped the worst of the company's restructuring measures so far.
Earlier, the parent company announced plans to further reduce staff numbers by 7,000, as it posted its ninth consecutive quarterly net loss amid the telecoms spending slowdown.
The company employs 53,000 worldwide and about 800 people in Ireland. It has facilities at Blanchardstown and Cherrywood in Dublin. A spokesperson said the Irish operations had been reduced through natural wastage, but this was the first time there had been layoffs.
The company, which began a massive restructuring in January 2001, posted a third quarter net loss of $7.91 billion compared with a net loss of $3.24 billion in the year-ago quarter. Its loss before one-time items was 16 cents a share compared with 39 cents last year.
Revenues were down 16% on the previous quarter to $2.95 billion. 'The market continues to be very challenging. Capital spending constraints have intensified and remained in place much longer than anyone would have predicted,' said Lucent's CEO Patricia Russo.
The company took a restructuring charge of $808m.
