Sprint to Slash 4,000 Jobs After Subscriber Losses
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Sprint Nextel Corpreported deeper than expected subscriber losses on Friday and said it would cut about 4,000 jobs, sending its shares down 26 percent and raising fears that an economic slowdown would take a greater toll on the wireless industry .
The No. 3 U.S. mobile phone service has been losing ground to bigger rivals such as AT&T Inc and Verizon Wireless amid network and customer service problems that drove away valuable post-paid subscribers who pay monthly bills.
On Friday, the company said it lost 683,000 post-paid subscribers in the fourth quarter, far worse than analysts’ forecasts for a loss of 350,000 to 500,000 subscribers.
For the entire article go to New York Times Online.
Corra has often been told there is opportunity in times of economic strife. this is the time when smaller companies either go out of business or figure out ways to thrive, by offering better service and pricing. Or they survive by being innovative and bringing new products and services to the market.
In the ever changing telecommunications world, the Sprint downturn may allow smaller companies to recruit experienced professionals at salaries they can afford. This idea doesn’t hold true just for Sprint and its layoffs, but for other companies in other industrial sectors as well.
When you do recruit candidates from a firm that has been laying them off, you want to know just why they were laid off. Obviously, the first answer is the economic downturn. But there may be other reasons as well. That’s why preemployment screening can help you determine whether these job candidates are truly worth recruiting.
Run background checks on all your new candidates. For people in your financial department you may want to also run credit reports and even federal and county civil searches.
Check them out before you hire.
