Mark Henderson

The (Monroe, La.) News-Star

MONROE, La. — CenturyLink announced plans to lay off as much as 8 percent of its workforce companywide by the end of the year.

Annmarie Sartor, spokeswoman for the telecommunications service provider, said the announcement came in a companywide memo from CenturyLink CEO Glenn Post on Wednesday.

The company currently has about 43,000 employees worldwide. A 7-8 percent workforce reduction would be about 3,500 employees companywide.

Sartor said the company will first entertain voluntary separations before involuntary layoffs.

In his memo, Post said the layoffs are related to decline in revenue in the legacy business of landline telephone service.

"We all understand the pressure caused by the decline in our legacy revenues — it creates a $600 million negative impact on our business each year. While we continue to see positive growth in our strategic products, the profit margins of these strategic products and services are considerably lower than those associated with the legacy revenue we are losing," Post wrote.

"So, while I am very confident that we will continue to accelerate our revenue growth over time, I also have reached the very difficult conclusion that the loss of higher margin legacy revenue requires that, in addition to achieving our growth targets, we must also significantly realign our fundamental cost structure. It is a difficult conclusion to reach, but our long-term success requires us to adapt to the reality of the rapidly changing environment in which we are operating."

CenturyLink's headquarters is located in Monroe, La.

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