Communications infrastructure business Alcatel-Lucent has revealed plans to cut around 10,000 jobs by the end of 2015. It’s part of a company-wide commitment to save €1 billion in the same period.
These actions, which form part of ‘The Shift Plan’ announced in June by new CEO Michel Combes, are designed to reposition Alcatel-Lucent as a ‘next generation’ technology specialist and return it to profit. Investment in Research & Development of ‘legacy’ technologies is being reduced by 60%, while R&D for technologies including IP networking and ultra-broadband access will be allocated a greater proportion of overall department spending.
Michel Combes, who was CEO of Vodafone Europe until last year, said “We launched The Shift Plan in June to give Alcatel-Lucent an industrially sustainable future. The strategic choices we made have been validated by our customers. To carry out this plan we must make difficult decisions and we will make them with open and transparent dialogue with our employees and their representatives. The Shift Plan is about the company regaining control of its destiny.”
Around 4,100 jobs will be lost in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, 3,800 in Asia/Pacific and 2,100 in the Americas.