15/01/2002

Marconi could lay off 1,000 UK workers

Beleaguered telecoms manufacturer Marconi is to initiate a restructuring review that could see the company cut 1,000 jobs throughout its UK operations.

Announcing their third quarter trading figures, Marconi revealed that although the company achieved an operating loss of £130m, continued sales of non-core assets should see Marconi stabilise its operations.

However, in order to further reduce the company’s dependence on an improvement in market conditions to restore operating profitability, Marconi is to continue to implement its savings strategy by targeting the workforce.

In a statement released by Marconi, the company “anticipates that this review could lead to an additional reduction of around 4,000 employees” from its worldwide operations, with an overall reduction of around 1,000 in the UK workforce.

However, while unions have welcomed the news that the company will stay afloat for the foreseeable future, they have spoken out against the idea of compulsory redundancies. Roger Lyons, general secretary of the Amicus, added: “Both the company and the union are determined to see what is the jewel of Britain’s telecommunications crown through this crisis.

“We will deal with this together and will do all we can to avoid compulsory lay-offs.”

Marconi expects that its restructuring programme will be essentially complete by March 2003. (CL)

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