Nortel cuts work force

(Telephony) The economic cloud that has fallen over most of telecom sector appears now to be drifting northward. Nortel Networks revealed this afternoon that it will cut around 4000 full-time employees.

“The cuts will basically fall in more traditional circuit-based areas,” said a company spokesman. “They will really be in our lower growth areas. It is reflective of our ongoing alignment of business focus. We want to focus on the high-growth areas,” he added.

As Nortel has stressed in the past, it intends to concentrate heavily on optical and wireless Internet technologies going forward. The old-style circuit-based equipment does not fall into that category, although the company plans to continue offering products in that area.

“In 2001, hiring to address high-growth markets will remain a priority,” said Clarence Chandran, COO of Nortel in a released statement.

But the cuts are not related to the general economic downturn in the telecommunications space, according to a company spokeswoman, “It is just part of the normal process and has nothing to do with everything else that has been going on.”