Axe hangs over MCI WorldCom staff

NEWS MCI WorldCom, one of the largest players in the global telecoms industry, is set to lay-off 2.5 per cent of its workforce, according to reports in the US. The company will cut a total of 2,000 staff - leaving the newly merged company's 1,200-strong European workforce with an anxious wait. Reports suggest network and IT operations will be hardest hit, with engineers and software programmers facing the axe. The job losses form part of a $2.5bn cost cutting exercise and follow the departure of a number of high-profile MCI executives including former chief executive, Gerry Taylor and chief information officer, Lance Boxer. MCI WorldCom spokesman, Mark Weeks, refused to comment on specific numbers, but added: "This is a real thing for those losing their jobs and it's important they are told first." News of the losses comes just two months after the company announced the creation of 1,000 jobs in Europe. In October MCI WorldCom said that it was expanding its optical fibre network from 3,200km to 7,150km to provide a high-speed data network for 20 European cities. Weeks said these new positions would be unaffected by any imminent announcements about job losses. Last month the company opened a pan-European network control and service facility in Amsterdam. WorldCom has been operating in Germany since 1991 and in the UK since 1993. Among its European customers are BP Oil.