Lucent staff take voluntary redundancy

Over 8500 Lucent employees are reported to have taken voluntary redundancy as part of a company restructuring bid that sent one staff member over the edge.

As Lucent consolidates its businesses under two different umbrellas, 10,000 employees were offered voluntary retirement in a cost cutting exercise designed to save $2bn.

Today Lucent said that 8500 employees who had taken the offer were mainly in the administrative and managerial sectors.

The networking company announced the cuts last month, saying it had to slash 20 per cent of its workforce through buyouts and other job cuts. Employees had until this Tuesday to decide whether to take the offer.

"This voluntary offer has enabled us to not only accelerate our restructuring plan, but give eligible employees the opportunity to leave the business with added benefits," a company statement said.

Shares in the company were up 81 cents yesterday, or 13.39 per cent, closing at $6.86.

Lucent said a full report of reductions and their financial impact will be available on 24 July in a third quarter earnings report.