Marconi layoffs unlikely to spread to Poland
The local operations of British telecommunications-equipment maker Marconi (http://www.marconi.com/html/news/tradingstatementandrequestforresumptionoftradinginshares.htm) will unlikely be affected by the 4,000 global layoffs that its London-based parent company announced earlier this month.
Marconi announced the layoffs on July 4 after it issued a profit warning that its sales for the year ending March 31, 2002, would drop 15% year on year, while its operating profit would plunge 50% due to slumping demand for its products, especially in Europe. The company also said it would close down some facilities to concentrate on major sites.
When asked if Marconi planned to cut jobs in Poland, Sylwia Nowik, the regional marketing manager of Marconi Communications Polska, said "not really." She added that she had not received any official notification about which global offices would be affected.
Michaela Hopkins, a spokeswoman at Marconi's London headquarters, said about 1,500 of the 4,000 job cuts were slated for the U.K., but she could not comment on the other offices likely to be affected.
The new job cuts will be Marconi's second round of layoffs this year. More than 4,000 workers left Marconi as a result of the first scale-back plan, the July 4 press release said. Its Polish operations were not affected by the previous job cuts.
In Poland, Marconi supplies fiber-optic bandwidth and radio-based access systems for telecom company Netia, and provides a technical back-up system for Swietochowice-based Telekros, a telecom service and trade company.
