Two US multinationals announced drastic job cuts today blaming the economic downturn for the redundancies.
Telecommunications company Qwest Communications cut its growth outlook through 2002, citing softer demand for voice and data services in the weak economy, and said it would reduce its work force by 7,000 jobs, or more than 11 per cent of its workforce.
Aetna, the largest US health insurer, said it is cutting about 6,000 jobs, or nearly one-sixth of its work force, as it tries to reverse a string of quarterly losses.
Qwest, the dominant local telephone company in 14 states from Minnesota to Washington, has suffered from weak sales of basic telephone services to both businesses and consumers, and shrinking sales of capacity on its high-speed fiber optic network.
Qwest said it will cut an additional 7,000 jobs, on top of earlier cuts of 4,000 jobs. Its work force will shrink to 55,000 employees by mid-2002, from 62,000 at the end of 2001.