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Lucent offers buyouts
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June 6, 2001: 12:54 p.m. ET
Telecom equipment maker offers 10,000 voluntary early retirement
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Struggling telecom equipment maker Lucent Technologies said Wednesday it will offer early retirement packages to more than 10,000 U.S.-based employees as part of its effort to cut costs.
The buyout package will be offered to management employees, ranging from entry-level clerical workers to mid-level executives. Under the offer, employees will be eligible to retire with full pension if they have at least 15 years of service and are age 50 or older.
"We are informing employees today that we are giving our U.S. management who are pension-eligible, or close to it, an opportunity to leave the company voluntarily with enhanced benefits. Eligible employees will receive an official offer on June 11 and acceptances must be made by July 10," Lucent spokesman Bill Price told CNNfn.
More than 10,000 employees are eligible for the cut, representing an addition to the personnel reduction announced in January, Price said. On Jan. 24, the Murray Hill, N.J.-based company announced plans to eliminate 10,000 other jobs as part of its restructuring.
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The news comes a week after negotiations to merge with French telecommunications rival Alcatel fell apart and a day after Lucent said another merger deal is very unlikely.
"The voluntary offer is part of our effort to accelerate the restructuring" because the market for Lucent's fiber-optic and communications gear has softened, Price said.
As have most suppliers of telecom and data-networking equipment, Lucent's business has been hurt by the slowing U.S. economy, which has prompted many of its customers, especially telecommunications service providers, to either defer or cancel their new-equipment orders. In addition to the overall slowdown, Lucent's business has been faced with a number of other financial woes, including the recent bankruptcy filing by wireless telecom Winstar Communications, to which it had made loans.
Lucent (LU: up $0.08 to $8.57, Research, Estimates) shares, which are among the most widely held in the United States, made small gains in midday trading, but still are well below their 52-week high of $67.19. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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Lucent
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