Sprint Nextel expects to lay off as many as 2,500 people by year’s end, on the heels of reporting that it lost 545,000 customers in its third quarter.
The operator could let go as few as 2,000 people and expects to cut labor costs by $350 million a year through the action. In the short term, the cuts will cost $60 million to $80 million in the fourth quarter, related to severance and other costs associated with the layoffs, Sprint said.
[ Discover iPhone apps for business and IT pros the easy way: Use InfoWorld's business iPhone apps finder. | Get the InfoWorld editors' 28-page hands-on look at the new iPhone OS from the perspective of business and IT pros. ]
Employees across the company as well as contractors may be affected, Sprint said.
The operator said it would be careful to make sure that the employee cuts won’t impact its recently improved customer service record. When Sprint’s current CEO Dan Hesse took over in late 2007, poor support was a major complaint from customers. But the company has by now improved service so much that it has discontinued using 27 call centers as a result of decreased call volumes, it said.
Despite improving customer service, Sprint is still struggling. Its exclusive introduction of the Palm Pre, the first to run Palm’s new WebOS, did not offer a much-needed boost for the operator. In addition to losing more than half a million customers in the third quarter, Sprint’s loss reached $478 million, compared to $326 million last year. Revenue during the quarter declined 9 percent over the same period year-over-year.
This whitepaper explains the terminology and concepts behind Data Replication technologies and establishes some sizing rules through worked examples. Learn the new paradigm in disaster tolerance—protect data anywhere.
Download now »
Server virtualization is a popular option for dealing with mounting datacenter costs. Another equally promising approach is the use of an Application Delivery Controller. Citrix NetScaler provides a low-cost way for organizations to reduce their server count and accrue cost savings from a reduction in space, cooling, power and personnel.
Download now »
The emergence of WLANs has created a new breed of security threats to enterprise networks.
Included in HP ProCurve WLAN solutions is security technology that alleviates threats from WLANs through:
* Monitoring wireless activity inside and out of the enterprise
* Classifying WLAN transmissions into harmful and harmless
* Preventing transmissions that pose a security threat to the enterprise network
* Locating participating devices for physical remediation
Effectively address data protection challenges, implementing solutions that help store and protect business–critical data while cutting costs and improving efficiency and reliability.
Download now »
Sign up to receive InfoWorld Resource Alerts
11 Recommendations
