Telecoms equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent is planning to cut 5,490 jobs globally as part of the Performance Program it launched in July to achieve an additional Euro 750 million cost reduction, bringing total savings to Euro 1.25 billion by the end of 2013.
 
The unions who have been informed of the job cuts up in arms against the move seeking government’s intervention. 
 
In performance program the company had talked of headcount reduction of around 5,000 people, but the actual job losses are higher.
 
The company plans to make 3,300 job cuts in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, with 990 in Asia-Pacific and 1,200 in the Americas.
 
The company has workforce of 76,000 people. It however said that job cuts will not affect the 26,000 staff working on research and development worldwide.
 
The company is July said that despite having demonstrated our ability to deliver operational profitability, it is clear from the deteriorating macro environment and the competitive pricing environment in certain regions challenging profitability that it must embark on a more aggressive transformation.
 
In July commenting on the Performance Program, Ben Verwaayen had said, “These times demand firm actions, but as this will involve shrinking our employee base and exiting certain non-profitable contracts we will use The Performance Program to execute in a measured fashion. However we are taking aggressive action that will improve our agility in the marketplace while remaining fully committed to both our customers and continuing to deliver world-class innovation.”
 
Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg said in a statement that the government would be "extremely vigilant" that Alcatel-Lucent preserves the most strategic parts of its business in France. He also pledged that the government would launch a "plan of action" in the coming months to help Alcatel's turnaround by encouraging investment in high-speed broadband.