Sprint expects job force cuts completed : Verizon landline, Globalstar employees not so lucky

Good news for Sprint Nextel Corp. employees: the carrier stated in its fourth-quarter conference call that does not anticipate any more job cuts for the year. Things are not so great for people employed in the wireline sector, however, as Verizon Communications Inc. said it plans to cut another 13,000 positions this year.
In its fourth-quarter earnings webcast, Verizon Communications said it is still seeing economic pressures in its landline business. “The signs of recovery are slow,” said Verizon Communications CFO John Killian, who said the company will believe the economy is recovering when it sees a return to hiring at large enterprises.
In the meantime, Verizon said it cut about 13,000 employees in its landline business in 2009, with about 5,000 of those cuts near the end of the year. Another 4,000 job cuts came from integrating its Alltel acquisition.
Going forward, CEO Ivan Seidenberg said the carrier will make between 30% and 40% of its job cuts in the first four to six months of the year and another heavy concentration in the fourth quarter. Seidenberg also noted that the company cut 13,000 in 2008, as well.
Sprint, which cut about 2,500 employees in the fourth quarter and a significant number of employees earlier in the year, said it thinks it has completed its employee reduction program.
Meanwhile, mobile satellite operator Globalstar Inc. also cut some employees as it tries to operate more efficiently. The company cut two executive positions; Steven Bell, senior VP of North American and European Sales Operations, and Robert Miller, Senior VP of Engineering and Ground Operations, are no longer employed at the company. Further, Globalstar said it cut a number of other employees but did not announce the number of positions cut.
“After analyzing our company’s operational decision-making processes, we are consolidating our staff in order to better streamline our organization and help us reach our financial goals,” said CEO Peter Dalton. “These changes will also tie management accountability with responsibility as we bring to market new consumer retail products and services and prepare to launch our second-generation satellite constellation beginning this summer.”
Globalstar said it is the largest MMS provider, with more than 375,000 customers in 120 countries.