November 24, 2003
Tampa Bay Online (TBO)
By Amy Shafer, Associated Press (AP)KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Sprint Corp. will lay off 2,000 workers or nearly 3 percent of its work force by the end of the year as part of an effort to cut operating expenses over the next three years. Sprint said Monday, the job cuts will involve both its wireline and wireless divisions. It employs about 70,000 people overall, including about 20,000 people in the Kansas City area.
"About 20 percent of the jobs that will be cut are in the Kansas City area", company spokesman Mark Bonavia said. The cuts are part of the Overland Park, Kan. telecommunications firm's reorganization around two market segments: business and residential customers. The restructuring is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1.
Including the layoffs announced Monday, Sprint has cut more, than 21,000 jobs in just over two years. The company currently is organized according to products: local telephone services, long-distance voice and data services and wireless.
The layoffs are in addition to those announced in September, when Sprint said, it will use outside contractors to handle some software operations, affecting hundreds of jobs at the company. Sprint also announced in September that it wanted to reduce total operating expenses 5 to 7 percent - or more, than $1 billion each year - over the next three years.
Independent industry analyst Jeff Kagan of Atlanta said the layoffs announced Monday were different from previous job cuts. "The last few years there have been unhealthy cuts, because it was just a company shrinking to try to survive. Now we're seeing reorganizational-based cuts and those are always healthy, because it shows a company's focusing on a growth opportunity", Kagan said.
"The company will announce later, how much the job cuts will cost Sprint during the fourth quarter", Bonavia said. Both of Sprint's tracking stocks will record one-time charges.
Sprint announced last month that it lost $498 million in the third quarter in contrast to a $519-million profit a year ago. Sprint said the loss reflected the consolidation of its two businesses, which are traded separately on the New York Stock Exchange. In trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Sprint FON shares were up 18 cents to close at $15.56, while Sprint PCS shares were up 26 cents to close at $4.61.