BellSouth Corp. the third largest U.S. phone company, said on Thursday that it plans to eliminate 1,500 management positions and other jobs across the company, resulting in after-tax charges of $95 million. Quite a few of these will occur in the New Orleans offices of the company.
In a statement, the Atlanta-based company said it plans to recognize about $50 million of the charges during the current fourth quarter.
The reductions will take place in supervisory and non-supervisory management positions, including staff support functions. Most of the reductions are expected to occur through the acceptance of voluntary severance packages and are to be completed by April 30, 2006, BellSouth said.
"We have worked hard to avoid it, but many companies our size and particularly our competitors operate with lower overhead and fewer management layers," BellSouth Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Duane Ackerman said in the statement.
Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited.
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