Report: WorldCom Mulling 16,000 Job Cuts
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WorldCom Inc. (WCOM), the No. 2 U.S. long-distance telephone company, is considering cutting 20 percent of its workforce, or about 16,000 jobs, in a bid to trim costs and turn the ailing firm around, USA Today said on Wednesday.
Top management is still working on a final proposal for making the cuts and could present it to the board within weeks, the report said, citing executives familiar with the plan. The cuts would follow a total of 12,700 made this year and last year.
Many of the cuts will likely come from network operations, a plan that would be in line with WorldCom's recent cuts in capital spending, the report said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WorldCom declined comment on the reported job cuts and cost savings plan.
"We're certainly going to right-size the business but to speculate on details of that would be premature" a WorldCom spokesman Brad Burns told the paper.
Investors are worried that WorldCom will buckle under $30 billion in debt as revenue for long-distance and data services continue to fall, USA Today said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WorldCom shares closed on Tuesday at $1.45, down 6.5 percent. Credit agencies have downgraded its debt to junk status