Lucent to cut another 7,000 jobs

Lucent Technologies has said that it will axe a further 7,000 jobs after announcing a loss for its third quarter.

The networking giant now employs 53,000 staff, 70,000 less than at its peak. A spokesman said that the layoffs, which will save the company £447m a year, will be completed by the end of 2002.

Lucent's third-quarter losses widened to £5bn, compared with £1.2bn for the same period last year. Sales plummeted by 50 per cent to £1.88bn, from £3.76bn.

The firm's revenues have dwindled in the past year as phone companies cut spending on expensive telecoms networking kit.

Chief executive Patricia Russo said in a statement: "The market continues to be very challenging. Capital spending constraints have intensified and remained in place much longer than anyone would have predicted."