Sprint to Cut Up to 2,500 Jobs

Sprint Nextel Corp. on Monday said it will cut 2,000 to 2,500 jobs, mostly before the end of the year, as it keeps losing subscribers.

The wireless carrier, based in Overland Park, Kan., said the goal is to cut labor costs by at least $350 million per year.

Sprint plans to take a charge of $60 million to $80 million in the current quarter for severance and other costs associated with the job cuts.

Sprint shares rose on the announcement, closing up 58 cents, or 20 percent, at $3.43.

The company started the year with about 56,000 employees. It then cut 8,000 jobs in the first half of the year. It is also transferring 6,000 employees to LM Ericsson AB, a Swedish contractor that is taking over management of Sprint’s network.

Sprint has been seeing subscribers defect to larger carriers AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless for a while. In the quarter that ended in September, it lost a net 545,000 subscribers, and revenue slipped 9 percent from a year ago.

11/9/2009 5:56 PM OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP)