Alcatel-Lucent has issued a broad statement that it is “rebalancing workforce” requirements in reaction to a report that it has cut 100 jobs out of its Australian workforce.
Late last week Computerworld reported that the company had made 100 local staff redundant, adding on to the 200 local contractors and permanent staff that it gave the boot to last year.
“Alcatel-Lucent Australia is currently reviewing costs and rebalancing workforce requirements for the second half of 2010,” the company said in a statement emailed over the weekend, blaiming the issue partly on the market.
“In part, this is due to the cyclical nature of our business, with projects coming to their planned end and natural changes in project delivery,” it continued. “While we’ve got some exciting work on our horizon, this year we need to respond to uncertainty over a number of previous years across the Australian telecommunications market, as we all get ready for the opportunities and growth ahead.”
The company said “as always”, it remained “absolutely focused” on meeting all of its customer commitments, and this “cost management activity” did not impact on its ability to deliver for customers.
The news comes just days after it was revealed that Alcatel-Lucent had won a contract to supply NBN Co with fibre-optic equipment to help it build the National Broadband Network, in a deal that could be worth up to $1.5 billion over its life.
However NBN Co has only committed to an initial $70 million fixed price purchase for the equipment, as well as a further $15 million to be spent over the next 12 months to assist NBN Co with engineering and testing services. Telstra is also a major Alcatel-Lucent customer in Australia.