Alcatel to close Spokane office (26 Jobs Lost)

AP ^ | 12-11-02 | AP

[ambrose]

Alcatel to close Spokane office

SPOKANE (AP) - Alcatel, which spent about $290 million to buy a Spokane technology startup four years ago, plans to close its office here by the middle of next year.

Twenty-six people will lose their jobs by next July, about 16 of them engineers and the rest involved in marketing and support, Alcatel spokesman Ed Essa said.

The decision was driven by the need to consolidate operations amid an economic downturn, Essa said.

"We're just today releasing our next generation of networking products," high-speed data devices called switches, which are being designed at the company's office in Calabasa, Calif., Essa told The Spokesman-Review of Spokane for a story in Tuesday's editions.

The company's foremost switches - the OmniCore and the PowerRail - were developed in Spokane three years ago.

Spokane's Alcatel office once had more than 170 workers, many of them holdovers from Packet Engines, the equipment-design firm started by local entrepreneur Bernard Daines.

Daines sold Packet Engines in 1998 for $290 million to Alcatel, a French telecommunications giant with operations around the world.

Alcatel started laying off Spokane workers in late 2000 as telecommunications companies worldwide stopped ordering new products. Globally, the company has cut about 60,000 jobs over the past two years - roughly half of its entire work force.

"Their leaving hurts," said Bob Conley, an executive at Vivato, a Spokane tech startup that has hired a number of former Alcatel workers.

When a tech company disappears, he added, it reduces the chance other Spokane firms have to recruit workers trained in similar fields.

[mykdsmom]

Are you affected by this?

Just curious because my hubby will most likely be losing his software engineering job with IBM in the next 2 days. Don't know what we are going to do. Luckily I have a nursing degree to fall back on. Nursing has to be the BEST profession to be in these days as far as job security.

Good Luck!

MKM

[ambrose]

Sorry to hear that. If does lose his job, be sure to Freep Mail me and I will report it.

[Slyfox]

Try not to put stuff on credit cards. They are murder to get out from under when the employment situation turns around.

[mykdsmom]

Oh I couldn't agree more, we have $0 credit card debt. In fact financially we're probably in better condition than most. Absolutely ZERO debt except for the house.

Not so much as a car payment, we pay cash for vehicles and drive 'em till they die.

MKM

[Higgymonster]

Whew. I checked the Spokane Paper and found a couple hundred jobs available. Not room to list them all but here's a start. Hope this helps.

For further details on these positions please call Dodie at 1-800-848-4259 ext. 7765. Apply via our web-site at: www.ghc.org GHC is an EEO & AA Employer Employment Opportunities: Apply via web-site at www.ghc.org

ENGINEER Sonicare(r) is now part of the Philips family of products. Be part of our diverse, global company where career opportunities exist worldwide. We are located in a new building east of Seattle in the foothills of the beautiful C More...

Spokane Area Good Samaritan Facilities Currently Seeking: RN or LPN Come in or call us to inquire about the shifts we have available at our facilities. We have full-time, part-time and on-call opportunities! We offer the following bene More...

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CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN FINANCIAL SERVICES Investment subsidiary of well-established and expanding Spokane credit unions seeks an experienced and motivated team player to help build a successful investment and financial planning group. More...

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Relocate To Coeur d Alene, ldaho At Extendicare Health Facilities, Inc., we combine the stability of a strong healthcare organization with innovative programs designed to make a difference in the lives of our patients as well as our ca More...

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[cherry]

my hubby is set to lose everything pretty soon too...even his damn retirement when the company which is in bankruptcy also files for pension relief...

I too, work as a nurse...and thank God for that....no way will I lose that...unfortunately....lol

I don't know what this economy is coming too but I think a lot of people are in our boat,.....work hard your whole life...pay your taxes...and end up with a company screwing everything out of you.....

you know, if my spouse loses his job, he gets to the end of the month as far as health insurance and then unless he picks up the astronomical tab, we are sol....if they release him Dec 30...he gets to the 31 st...

people on FR like to classify themselves as either libertarian, or conservative, etc etc....

I figure I am a populist.....I think the little guy is getting killed by the govt and by the big cooperations and no one...not the gop or the demorats...seem to give a rat's ass about it...

[america-rules]

Just FYI: Bernard Daines gave 1 Mil to the WA State GOP two years ago and is a conservative Pubbie !

[lelio]

Dang. Finding a high-tech job in Seattle is hard enough, I can't imagine what its like out there in Spokane.