A consultant’s report has recommended that Level 3 Communications cut more than 1,000 positions to boost its bottom line, said Donna Jaegers, an equity analyst at Janco Partners in Denver.
But the Broomfield telecommunications company probably won’t make such a large cut, equivalent to one out of every six positions, she said.
The reported today that Level 3 is expected to announce a reduction of as many as 1,100 positions Thursday when it discloses its earnings.
Level 3 Communications is in a quiet period, and officials there were unavailable for comment. The company lists 173 openings on its website.
For Jaegers, such a large cut doesn’t make sense. Level 3 Communications has lost sales because previous job reductions have harmed its ability to hook up new customers to its telecommunications networks, Jaegers said.
If cuts do come, they are apt to be in Tulsa, Okla., where Level 3 acquisition Wiltel is based. That network’s largest customer, AT&T, continues to move communications traffic onto its own network.
Jaegers said the company may cut another 500 workers this year but that those would probably be spread out over several months and done in an effort to control costs.
The company has cut more than 2,200 employees in the past two years as it consolidates several acquisitions.
Level 3 reportedly let about 100 to 150 employees go in January in Broomfield, Jaegers said, but those cuts appear to represent the tail end of consolidation from earlier acquisitions.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com
