Sprint (NYSE: S) is looking to cut costs multiple ways and is doing so in part by cutting severance pay in half for employees notified after Jan. 30, 2016, that they will be laid off. Sprint plans to cut up to $2.5 billion in expenses over the next six months and has said it plans to lay off more employees but has not said how many or when the job cuts will come. As the Kansas City Business Journal notes, Sprint has typically offered two weeks' pay for one full year worked at the company. Now, Sprint will offer one week of pay for a year worked at the carrier. However, the cut in severance pay will happen only if the employees are notified after the end of January 2016. The package will take effect when employees are notified, the report said, rather than their last day of employment. That means layoffs could cost Sprint less money if employees are notified after Jan. 30 of next year.
Sprint spokeswoman Melinda Tiemeyer said that is not Sprint's intention. "There will be notifications before that date," she told the Kansas City Star. "We're not waiting until then."
Tiemeyer told the Business Journal that the change is part of Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure's effort to shake up the company and cut costs. "We're changing the way we do business to compete with other businesses, help customers and reduce the cost of our business," she said. Article