Alcatel-Lucent to cut 4000 jobs

Most of the jobs that will be affected are in the US, due to weak orders for mobile equipment. Employees at Alcatel-Lucent in France will be relatively spared, CNN reported. Alcatel-Lucent posted this morning it’s third quarter results. During the quarter, revenues grew sequentially by 2.3% at a constant Euro/USD exchange rateand gross margin improved sequentially to 34.2%. All of the company’s business segments grew sequentially in Q3 2007. Within the Carrier Segment, the optical network business saw strong double-digit growth, and the GSM business continued to gain traction due to a refreshed portfolio, registering a second consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth. For the quarter the company saw a 5.6% reduction in operating expenses on a comparable basis3 related to the third quarter 2006 and a 3.2% reduction sequentially. The company continues to execute on its integration plans and during the quarter reduced approximately 1,000 positions. Year-to-date the company has reduced headcount of 5,000 people before the impact of managed services and acquisitions (approximately 1,350 people). The company plans to achieve its synergy-related comparable3 pre-tax savings of Euro 600 million this year. As previously stated, savings accounted for in gross margin this year will not be retained due to current market conditions; however, the company does expect to retain most of its operating expense savings.