Nortel slashes more jobs

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Nortel is cutting its global workforce by an additional 3,200 staff, worldwide.

The announcement this morning confirmed that the company expected to lose the staff over the coming months, and would treat each case in accordance with local employment laws.

The news expected job cuts at the firm up to the 5,000 mark, - a large amount that the firm admits has put it in a difficult position.

"There is nothing more difficult than notifying employees, and Nortel is extremely conscious of the personal financial burden this will cause affected employees and their families," said Mike Zafirovski, Nortel’s president and chief executive (CEO).

"Nortel is a company driven by people and innovation. But with the unprecedented economic environment and resultant impacts on revenues, significant changes are required to regain our financial footing. Tough decisions are being made to restructure the company and work towards a successful emergence from creditor protection."

Nortel is currently in the process of restructuring after bankruptcy, and will work with its creditors and the courts to improve its situation.

These job cuts, though extreme, are necessary to the firm's survival, according to Zafirovski, who explained that they would help Nortel to continue to provide a good service to customers, while still having the freedom to innovate.

"We remain deeply committed to our customers and are staffed to meet their needs as we take the necessary actions to strengthen the Company," added Zafirovski.

"Throughout the process, we are committed to maintaining current high service levels and appropriate innovation investment levels to ensure best in class technology continues to be available to Nortel's global customer base."

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