Alcatel-Lucent to Cut 5,000 Jobs Amid Quarterly Loss

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/technology/27iht-alcatel27.html

Alcatel-Lucent, the French maker of telecommunications network equipment, said on Thursday that it would eliminate 5,000 jobs, or 6.6 percent of its global work force, in a move to reduce spending and to generate more profit from its patent portfolio.

The company, created in the 2006 merger of Alcatel of France and Lucent Technologies of the United States, announced the job cuts as it reported a 254 million euro, or $312 million, loss for the second quarter.

Its sales fell 7.1 percent from the period a year ago, to 3.55 billion euros.

Ben Verwaayen, Alcatel-Lucent’s chief executive, described the cuts as necessary because of weaker demand for network equipment and rising competition from lower-cost rivals. The cuts, Mr. Verwaayen said, would be made by the end of 2013 in all parts of the company except research and development.