[July 28, 2009] BRIEF: Verizon plans to cut 8,000 jobs; loss in Md. unknown Tweet Jul 28, 2009 (The Baltimore Sun - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Verizon said Monday that it will accelerate plans to reduce its work force by 8,000 people, with the job cuts to come in the second half of the year and likely to include reductions in Maryland. The New York-based telecommunications company, Maryland's 10th-largest employer, has been shrinking its Wireline business, which provides traditional land-line phone services, as customer demand has fallen. Bob Varettoni, a Verizon spokesman, said most of the 11,500 Maryland workers do work in the Wireline sector, but he did not know how many job cuts might be made in Maryland. On Monday, the wireless carrier reported a 21 percent drop in second-quarter profit. On a conference call, John Killian, Verizon chief financial officer, said the company plans 8,000 cuts in its Wireline business during the second half as well as cost-cutting measures in other categories. The company had reduced the work force in its Wireline division by 8,000 over the past year through a combination of layoffs, attrition, retirements, transfers and voluntary layoffs, Varettoni said. Verizon employs 235,000 people, including about 87,000 Verizon Wireless employees. - Lorraine Mirabella To see more of The Baltimore Sun, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.baltimoresun.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Baltimore Sun Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]