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ECI to fire 25% of workforce in Israel

Global provider of networking infrastructure equipment preparing for biggest wave of layoffs in its history – less than year after dismissing nearly 200 Israeli employees

Networking infrastructure equipment provider ECI Telecom has launched a wave of layoffs expected to affect one-quarter of its significant workforce in Israel.

 

Calcalist has learned that 250 to 300 out of 1,200 employees in Israel will be fired – the biggest wave of dismissals in the company's history and one of the largest in the high-tech industry these days.

 

The current wave of layoffs comes less than a year after ECI fired some 200 of its employees in Israel. The company has a total of some 2,000 workers around the world.

 

ECI is run by Darryl Edwards, who assumed the role of president and chief executive officer in August 2012, a difficult period for the company, which has been recording regular losses for several years now. The exact figures are unknown, however, as the company has become private since its acquisition about five years ago by Israeli businessman Shaul Shani.

 

In the previous wave of layoffs, the CEO had noted that "the economic situation in the global arena, especially in Europe, is leaving its mark on the telecom industry. Companies in our industry are responding to the economic conditions by cutting expenses and focusing on their core businesses."

 

He had added that ECI had prepared a business plan for 2013 based on a significant increase in income with cuts in expenses.

 

ECI has been suffering from growing competition in recent years, mainly against China's Huawei, which is considered the second biggest telecommunications equipment manufacturers in the world after Cisco.

 

In the past few years the company has taken a number of significant steps to reduce its operating costs, including shutting down its offices for one day a month and significantly reducing investment in its research and development department.

 

The company offered the following statement in response: "As part of ECI's recovery process, the company is adapting its expense structure to the situation in the global telecom market. The dismissal procedure stems from strategic changes and the company's entry into new fields. At the same time, the company is hiring new development workers."

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 09.16.13, 15:18
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