Nortel to cut another 2,900 jobs

Marking the fourth major round of layoffs since 2002, Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski said the company will cut 2,900 jobs and shift 1,000 positions to lower-cost locations in an attempt to generate savings of $400 million. The cuts reduce the Nortel workforce from a high of 95,000 in 2001 down to a mere 31,000. The job cutting and cost saving measures come at a time of fierce competition in the telephony space as rivals Alcatel-Lucent and the planned Nokia-Siemens JV are positioned as the heavyweights in the sector. Zafirovski promised more cost-cutting back in November.

For more on Nortel's additional jobs cuts:
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)