Struggling carrier WorldCom (WorldCom.com) announced on Monday that it would cut 5,000 jobs as part of a plan to cut the company's annual costs by $2.5 billion, a major milestone in the 100-day plan laid out by the company several weeks ago.
The 5,000 mostly corporate and administrative job cuts are one of several measures outlined in the plan, which includes facility consolidation and line cost savings generated through network integration and the renegotiation of supplier contracts.
Facility consolidation will reduce the company's total square footage by 8.7 million square feet, or 26 percent. WorldCom says it will maintain a major presence in Alpharetta, Ga; Ashburn, Va; Cary, NC; Clinton, Miss; Denver and Colorado Springs, Co; Hong Kong; Reading, UK; Richardson, Tex; and Tulsa Okla.
"This plan is an important milestone in our efforts to restructure WorldCom, file our plan of reorganization in April and emerge from Chapter 11 protection later this year," said Michael Capellas, WorldCom chairman and CEO. "The steps we are taking will not only produce significant savings for the company but will benefit our customers by optimizing network performance and eliminating redundancies. We continue to have the best service levels in the industry."
