Moto and O2 announce job cuts
31-05-2007
by Charlie Taylor
Motorola is to cut an extra 4,000 jobs worldwide, while locally, O2 has confirmed plans to outsource its technology function, in a move likely to affect 450 staff.
The latest announcements come a day after Ireland's biggest telecoms firm Eircom confirmed that it intends to cut 900 jobs over the next three years, with 400 of these to be gone by the end of 2007.
O2 Ireland, which is the country's second largest mobile operator, confirmed on Thursday that it met with employees who would be affected by the decision on Wednesday and told them that the firm was exploring the possibility of outsourcing its technology function.
A spokesperson for the company told ENN that it was expecting to issue an RFP (Request for Proposal) to interested suppliers, and that any contract offered would cover maintenance of the organisation's network and management of its internal IT system.
Ericsson, Nokia, Accenture, IBM and Fujitsu are believed to be the companies that will be invited to apply to tender for the contract.
O2's spokesperson told ENN that while there were no definite dates, he expected the process to begin shortly. "O2 has been looking at how we operate in a market that is very competitive and is showing signs of increased convergence across various sectors," the spokesperson said.
"The company has been considering ways of moving from being a pure mobile operator to becoming a full communications supplier, and one way of doing this is by outsourcing technology functions and focusing on generating new business and on customer care etc instead," he added.
Meanwhile, Motorola, which is the world's second biggest mobile manufacturer, has said that it intends to cut an additional 4,000 jobs this year as part of its cost-cutting programme.
The company, which previously announced plans to reduce its workforce by 3,500 by 30 June, forecast on Wednesday that it expected restructuring charges of around USD300 million as a result of the additional jobs cuts.
Overall, the company, which employed 66,000 people at the end of last year, will have reduced its workforce by more than 11 percent by the end of 2007.
Irish employees have already been affected by the firm's previous jobs cull with 330 positions lost in Cork.
Motorola is hoping that its cost-cutting programme will save the firm USD600 million annually starting in 2008. Last month, the company announced that it made a loss of USD181 million, or USD0.08 a share for the first quarter of its latest financial year.
