Bankrupt telecommunications giant MCI said Friday it will close three call centers and cut 4,000 jobs, 7 percent of its workforce. The company blamed the closings and job losses on industry cost-cutting pressures and the national no-call registry, according to reports.
The centers being closed are in Denver, Phoenix and Niles, Ohio. Jobs are also being reduced at MCI facilities in Alpharetta, GA, Colorado Springs, CO, and Springfield, MO.
“As a result of the impact of federal and state do-not-call laws, as well as ongoing telecom market trends, we need to take this action in order to improve our overall cost structure,” the company said in a statement.
In Phoenix, 850 call center workers will lose their jobs, as will 950 workers in Denver and 650 in Niles. The job cuts are expected to occur in May and June. MCI plans to emerge from bankruptcy at the end of April.
MCI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2002 as WorldCom. MCI, the No. 2 U.S. long-distance carrier, listed debts of $65 billion in its bankruptcy filing, according to news reports. The company has faced allegations of $11 billion in fraudulent accounting. Former chief financial officer Scott Sullivan pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges this month. The company dropped the WorldCom name in 2003.
