Alcatel-Lucent to cut 10,000 jobs worldwide

Alcatel-Lucent plans to cut 10,000 jobs in a bid to reduce costs.

The cuts represent 14% of its 72,000 workforce and 900 of those job losses will be made in France.

The telecoms equipment maker has reported losses in the previous five quarters and hopes to save $1.4 billion through costs cuts by 2015. Shares in Alcatel-Lucent rose 2% following the news.

Chief executive Michel Combes said the decisions were “difficult”.

Alcatel-Lucent, which competes with Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia, announced the cuts in a statement ahead of a meeting with its European works council later today.

Michel Combes said the cuts were necessary to give the company an “industrially sustainable future” and the company’s employees could expect an “open and transparent dialogue”.

Alcatel-Lucent’s most recent cuts are in addition to the 5,000 announced in July.

Last year the company reported losses of 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion).

In July rival Ericsson reported a sharp rise in quarterly profits, helped by cost cuts and higher profit margins.

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