NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Corning Inc. said Monday it may cut an additional 4,000 jobs and close some plants, even as the company sees a first-quarter loss narrower than Wall Street estimates.

Corning's chief financial officer, James Flaws, told Reuters the company may eliminate 12.5 percent of its 32,000 workforce, but a final figure has not been set.

Earlier Monday, the company said it will take $600 million in restructuring and severance charges during the second and third quarters as it reshapes itself into a smaller company, but it did not say how much money the job cuts will save going forward.

Last year, Corning cut 12,000 jobs and idled a number of plants due to the slowdown in telecommunications spending.

News of the workforce reductions come after the company said it expects to lose about 10 cents a share on revenue of about $900 million in the first quarter. Analysts expected a loss of 17 cents per share on sales of $941 million, according to research firm First Call.

The company earned 29 cents a share on revenue of $1.9 billion in the year-earlier period. But the new first-quarter guidance is an improvement from the 28-cent-a-share loss in the fourth quarter.

"As the year began, we felt we were approaching bottom in the telecommunications sector," Flaws said. "Our first-quarter performance suggests that has happened."

In addition the optical fiber maker said CEO and President John Loose, 60, will retire at the company's shareholders' meeting April 25, and that James Houghton, 66, the current chairman of the company, will reassume the CEO title as well.

Houghton served as CEO from 1983 to 1996. Wendell Weeks, 42, president of Corning Optical Communications, is slated to become Corning's president and chief operating officer.

Shares of Corning (GLW: Research, Estimates) dipped 2 cents Monday to close at $6.83.