When times gets tough, big corporations get to slashing jobs. Sprint Nextel knows this all too well. Following a round of job cuts that gave thousands of Sprint Nextel employees the dreaded pink slip, Sprint has announced that it plans to lighten their employee-load by another 2,000 to 2,500 by the end of the year.
The depressed economy has proven to be another obstacle to the No. 3 US wireless carrier’s push to return to profits. Sprint recently reported a Q3 loss of $478 million, despite the carrier’s snazzy new smartphone lineup that includes headlining devices like the HTC Hero and the Palm Pre.
Sprint is also still struggling to get their WiMAX network deployed nationwide. With controlling stake in WiMAX operator Clearwire, Sprint is betting that their 4G WiMAX network will help turn things around. Sprint Nextel is reportedly putting up an additional $1.176 billion to help Clearwire build out its nationwide 4G WiMAX network in the US. That’s going to put a serious dent in Sprint’s pocketbook.
Sprint’s upcoming job cuts are aimed at saving the company $350 million in annual expenses, but will cost the company $60-$80 million in severance pay this quarter.
[Via: WirelessWeek]