Alcatel Cuts 450 U.S. Jobs

The company said this week that its work force in North Texas has fallen by 1,500 since November, to 4,000. It has 9,000 workers in the United States, down from 17,000 at the beginning of last year.

The telecommunications industry has been hard hit in the past two years, as orders for new equipment have stalled. Last month, Alcatel reported a first-quarter loss of $746 million and said it had seen no improvement in market conditions.

Analysts say Alcatel might have to cut more jobs to make good on its April promise to achieve operating profits.

"The cost-cutting and restructuring is far from complete," said Syed Haider, an analyst with Frost Securities in Dallas. "This downturn has been so pronounced, you have to make such deep structural changes."

A spokesman for Alcatel said most or all of the layoffs were in addition to 1,500 U.S. job cuts announced in November. Brian Murphy said the last affected employees were notified Tuesday afternoon.

Murphy declined to say whether the company would cut more jobs in Texas.

"We still have 4,000 people here, and that's not a small number," Brian Murphy said. "This is still the center for several of our business units."

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