JDS to cut 3000 jobs

(Telephony) Reflecting the downward trend in the optical market, JDS Uniphase took its place next to Lucent Technologies, Nortel Networks, and 3Com and other major companies looking for ways to cut back. Today, it revealed plans to lay off 3000 people worldwide in an effort to improve efficiency.

Concentrated in its passive optical manufacturing operations in San Jose, Calif., and Ottawa, Ontario, the cuts will center on manufacturing operations and affect 10% of its 29,000-person workforce.

“We see it as a short-term downturn,” said a spokesman for the company. The slowdown in the economy has affected capital spending among incumbent providers, which has affected equipment providers and, ultimately, component manufacturers, he said. In addition, a ramp-up in passive manufacturing capacity, new entrants into the passive component space and a slowdown in the company’s own inventory also played a role in the cutbacks, according to the spokesman.

“It has to be a result, in part, because of expectations that the market was going to do better than it did,” said Lawrence Gasman, president of CIR. “A lot of people got hyped up to a point that was ridiculous. It’s time to tighten up.”

The cuts are not related to the acquisition of SDL, nor will they affect current hiring or the company’s product-development strategy, said the spokesman.