Alcatel-Lucent has revealed plans to cut 5,490 jobs worldwide as part of a cost-cutting drive.
The job cuts have been anticipated since July, when the company announced a plan to reduce its headcount by around 5,000 and find €1.25 billion in cost savings.
Over the objections of French union officials, Alcatel-Lucent plans to cut the lion's share of 1,430 jobs in its home market, Reuters reported. Unions have called on workers to down tools today in protest.
Nearly 1,000 jobs are slated to go across APAC, but this is fewer than the 1,200 job cuts in the Americas and 3,300 from across the EMEA region. Alcatel-Lucent currently has around 76,000 employees worldwide.
The cutbacks will mainly affect support functions such as sales and HR - none of the cuts will affect Alcatel-Lucent's 26,000 R&D employees.
Alcatel-Lucent swung to a loss of €254 million ($331.9 million) in the second quarter, as it grappled with the slowdown in Europe and intense competition from rivals such as Huawei and ZTE.