Lucent's Gov't Team Likely to Escape Large Layoff

Lucent Technologies Inc.'s plan to reduce its work force by 10,000 and take a one-time charge of between $1.2 billion and $1.6 billion likely will have little effect on the company's government sales operation, a company spokesperson said."We have a total of about 3,000 employees in the Washington metropolitan area, not just in [the Government Customer Team], and we're looking at a possible impact of maybe 100 employees," said Denise Panyik-Dale, senior public relations manager for the government division. "The reductions are going to be scattered throughout various regions and states. We have no kind of breakdown on how it's going to affect [specific areas, but] most of it will be outside the Maryland/D.C./Virginia area," she said.Lucent, based in Murray Hill, N.J., last year spun off its Government Solutions business as part of Avaya Inc. of Basking Ridge, N.J.The Government Customer Team now within Lucent and based in Columbia, Md., is responsible for growing the company's business with the federal government by partnering with service providers to deliver complete solutions for major government contracts, Panyik-Dale said. Lucent announced the layoffs and one-time charge among several measures it would take to improve financial performance. The company said it also intends to significantly expand its use of contract manufacturers, which also will reduce headcount, cut back on its capital spending and reduce its working capital levels by $2 billion. The company arranged a credit line of up to $4.5 billion for 364 days to make sure cash flow needs could be adequately met.