Struggling telecommunications equipment maker Lucent Technologies intends more layoffs that could number in the thousands after it completes a voluntary retirement program, sources close to the company said today.
"The writing is on the wall and clear that there's going to be further reductions," one source said.
A second source said the additional job cuts could number several thousand.
More than 10,000 Lucent employees have until July 10th to decide whether to accept early-retirement offers.
Lucent management will decide the number of additional layoffs after seeing how many take the retirement package, the sources said, adding that most will likely be overseas, where it employs about 25,000.
Lucent expects a significant acceptance rate on the buyout offers, a source said.
The Wall Street Journalreported earlier today that the company's newest cuts could exceed 10,000 jobs.
But sources told Reuters that the figure was speculative because a total number of employees taking the buyout offer has not been set. Before the buyout offer was made, analysts and mutual fund managers called on Lucent to cut as many as another 20,000 jobs.
Lucent said in January it would cut 10,000 jobs, and so far 2,000 have been slashed. After the buyout is completed, the company will employ 94,000 people.
It also plans to sell its fiber-optic cable unit and two plants to contract manufacturers, which would reduce its staff by another 12,000, bringing the total to 82,000 people. If 10,000 people accept the buyout offer, the total work force would be 72,000.
Sanford Bernstein analyst Mr Paul Sagawa was not surprised by the possible new cuts, saying Lucent needs to get rid of about 15,000 more jobs between the buyouts and additional layoffs to get to the same level as rival Nortel.
"Every company in this industry faces a minimum of an 18-month stretch of very poor sales, with declining sales most likely," he said.
"Considering that Lucent is not profitable at this moment, there's a lot of work to do and that involves downsizing, unfortunately," Mr Sagawa added.