Lucent letting 1,500 more workers go

By late September, Lucent Technologies will have eliminated more than 60 percent of its global work force since 2001 - a total of 71,000 positions.

In filings Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Lucent reported it cut 69,500 employees between fiscal 2001 and last June. Another 1,500 will be gone by the end of this fiscal year on Sept. 30 - the majority of them managers.

When Lucent began restructuring in January 2001, it had 106,000 employees worldwide.

Roughly 10,500 of those people worked at its Naperville and Lisle facilities. That number fell to 5,200 last June.

So the dwindling ranks in Naperville and Lisle weren't surprised this week when the cutbacks continued.

Lois Porzio, a wireless software manager at Lucent in Naperville, was part of the team targeting positions for yet another round of layoffs.

The Batavia resident, a 19-year Lucent veteran, was among more than 200 employees let go Tuesday. The cuts were part of a plan announced last October that aimed for a global work force of 35,000 by the end of this fiscal year.

"These job reductions have been occurring across the business, and we continue to notify employees and take actions toward that goal," Lucent spokesman William Price said.

Price and other officials repeatedly refused to say which divisions were hit, the exact number of layoffs or other cutbacks planned in the Naperville and Lisle facilities.

The cuts in Naperville were expected, however, after Lucent took a major revenue jolt in the third quarter in Mobility, the business that develops wireless telecommunications equipment based in Whippany, N.J. Its development division, customer and marketing teams are in Lisle and Naperville.

Revenues for Mobility were $826 million - down 36 percent from last quarter and down 45 percent from the same period last year. Overall, the Murray Hill, N.J.-based telecom had third-quarter revenues of $1.96 billion, an 18 percent decline from the $2.4 billion last quarter. It had $2.95 billion in the same quarter last year.

Naperville Mayor George Pradel said he didn't receive the customary call from Lucent officials informing the city of impending layoffs.

Lisle Mayor Joseph Broda, who retired after 31 years as a senior manager for software development at Lucent, said he's concerned about the future of Lucent's Lisle facility.

"Sometimes they get confused over there and forget to tell us anything," Broda said.

Though Lucent officials have claimed for nearly a year that they were going to reduce their work force to 35,000, some employees remain skeptical.

"Is 35,000 going to be the number? Until the company is profitable, I wouldn't know what that final count would be," Porzio said.

Employees received 30 days of full salary and benefits and a severance package based on position and years of service.

Lucent had too many workers when I worked there. They had people who just attended meetings all day.

Where were you, on the assembly line?

Meetings are basic communication tool. The trick is to make them productive.

Presumably, when you layoff 70% of your workforce you have done away with most of your dead wood and well into cutting away at your core abilities. This company and perhaps the industry is simply being put out of business. That is not good for the Telecoms or for the US, since it reflects the deep downturn in US economic activity.

If you think your stock is underperforming at 35,000 employees, you are going to be thrilled when the company drops to zero employees.

U.S. stocks ponder slew of data Thursday August 14, 9:30 am ET By Julie Rannazzisi NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- U.S. stock investors had a slew of economic numbers to ponder Thursday, with the latest data revealing mild inflation and a recovering job market.

The number of workers filing for state unemployment benefits remained under the key 400,000 mark for a second week, suggesting improvements in the labor market. Cornering the actual number, weekly claims rose 2,000 to 398,000 in the week ending Aug. 9.

Additionally, the overall producer price index rose a mild 0.1 percent in July and 0.2 percent at the core, which excludes the often- volatile food and energy components -- the biggest gain since March. Economists had expected a 0.1 percent increase both overall and at the core.

Finally, the U.S. trade deficit contracted by a larger-than-expected 4.7 percent to $39.5 billion in June as exports surged.

A number of analyst actions surfaced on Thursday. Wachovia Securities sliced its view on Dow stock McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - News) to a "market perform" rating from an "outperform" based on the fast food colossus' valuation.

In other moves, Smith Barney downgraded its rating on Dow component 3M (NYSE:MMM - News) to an "in line" from an "outperform," citing valuation as the primary reason. While Smith Barney notes that the diversified industrial company continues to impress "with strong execution" and "solid, above-average core growth," it concedes that further upside may be constrained by the stock's current valuation.

And SoundView Technology Group upped Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN - News) to an "outperform" rating from a "neutral" on belief the chip company is the "best proxy for the semiconductor industry, [which] is in the process of a mild/gradual recovery."

Finally, CSFB cut its weighting on the technology sector to a "market weight" from an "overweight" due to recent rise in long-term interest rates and to higher optimism among market participants. CSFB believes technology stocks are feeling the weight of rising rates more than any other sector. Treasury issues extended their recent losses, ruffled by economic news showing that the U.S. economy is on the mend.

In recent trades, the 10-year Treasury note was down 14/32 to yield (CBOE:^TNX - News) 4.615 percent while the 30-year government bond inched down 2/32 to yield (CBOE:^TYX - News) 5.45 percent.

In currencies, the U.S. dollar was generally higher against its major counterparts, adding 0.3 percent to 119.50 yen while the euro sagged 0.4 percent to $1.1264.

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Meetings are events at which the minutes are kept and the hours are lost.