Qwest Slashes 7,000 More Jobs
By Next Year, 17 Percent Of Qwest Workforce Will Be Eliminated
POSTED: 10:25 a.m. MST December 13, 2001
UPDATED: 11:54 a.m. MST December 13, 2001
DENVER -- Qwest Communications announced Thursday that it will slash 7,000 jobs.
The telephone company also warned that revenue for this year and next will fall short of Wall Street's expectations.
The job cuts come on the heels of 4,000 cuts previously
announced in September. When completed by the middle of next year,
Qwest will have reduced its work force by 17 percent, from 62,000 to 55,000.
Qwest has about 16,000 employees in Colorado. Anywhere from 1,500 to 1,800 jobs will be cut in this round of layoffs, said Qwest spokesman Steve Hamack.
The cuts will come from all jobs, all areas of the company. They'll do as much as possible through attrition, Hamack said.
"This is being driven by the downturn of the economy. If Qwest sees growth and increase in demand for service, it'll look to rehire. We're not expecting that, but we'll encourage laid off employees to reapply if it would," Hamack told 7NEWS.
In a statement released Thursday, Qwest said that the deteriorating U.S.
economy is lowering customer demand.
Qwest also warned that revenue for the fourth quarter will be
$4.8 billion. That's far lower than the $5.07 billion expected by analysts
surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call.
For the full year, Qwest said revenue would be 19.8 billion dollars, or below expectations of $20.3 billion.
Shares of Qwest were off 28 cents, or two percent, to $11.82 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
To read the Qwest release, click here
The telephone company also warned that revenue for this year and next will fall short of Wall Street's expectations.
The job cuts come on the heels of 4,000 cuts previously
announced in September. When completed by the middle of next year,
Qwest will have reduced its work force by 17 percent, from 62,000 to 55,000.
Qwest has about 16,000 employees in Colorado. Anywhere from 1,500 to 1,800 jobs will be cut in this round of layoffs, said Qwest spokesman Steve Hamack.
The cuts will come from all jobs, all areas of the company. They'll do as much as possible through attrition, Hamack said.
"This is being driven by the downturn of the economy. If Qwest sees growth and increase in demand for service, it'll look to rehire. We're not expecting that, but we'll encourage laid off employees to reapply if it would," Hamack told 7NEWS.
In a statement released Thursday, Qwest said that the deteriorating U.S.
economy is lowering customer demand.
Qwest also warned that revenue for the fourth quarter will be
$4.8 billion. That's far lower than the $5.07 billion expected by analysts
surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call.
For the full year, Qwest said revenue would be 19.8 billion dollars, or below expectations of $20.3 billion.
Shares of Qwest were off 28 cents, or two percent, to $11.82 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
To read the Qwest release, click here
Previous Stories:
- October 26, 2001: Qwest Drops Plans To Charge For Unlisted Number
- October 18, 2001: Qwest's Plans To Charge For Non-Listing Blocked
- October 3, 2001: Qwest Wants To Charge To Withhold Addresses
- September 6, 2001: Qwest Refuses Code Red Refunds
- August 9, 2001: Qwest Billing Errors Greater Than First Thought
- August 9, 2001: Qwest Message Cites Media For Call Delays
- August 8, 2001: Qwest, Microsoft Partnership Upsets Some
- August 7, 2001: Qwest CEO Webcast Goes Pfzzt!
- August 7, 2001: Some Unhappy With Qwest DSL Service
- July 26, 2001: More Qwest Billing Errors Pop Up
- July 25, 2001: Qwest Posts Largest Quarterly Loss In Colorado History
- July 19, 2001: Call 7: Qwest Complaints
- June 1, 2001: Is Qwest Selling Your Number To Telemarketers?
- May 22, 2001: Qwest Expanding DSL Service
- May 14, 2001: Qwest Raising Pay Phone Rates Again
- May 11, 2001: Qwest Getting Back Into Long Distance
- May 2, 2001: Qwest Ordered To Refund $11.2 Million
- March 7, 2001: US West Retirees Fighting Qwest Use Of Pension Surplus
- March 1, 2001: Qwest Raising Rates On 411 Information Calls
Copyright 2002 by TheDenverChannel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
