Embarq layoffs will pick up through year’s end
Kansas City Business Journal
Layoffs stemming from CenturyTel Inc.’s $11.6 billion purchase of Embarq Corp. likely will be few this month, but they are expected to pick up through the end of the year.
The companies closed the stock-and-debt deal on Wednesday, forming CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL), which has roughly 20,000 total employees across 33 states. CenturyLink is based in Monroe, La.
Company spokeswoman Annmarie Sartor said Thursday that probably 30 or fewer jobs would be cut during July. The top tiers of leadership still are determining what functions overlap and where cuts should be made.
“Nothing major is planned for the next several weeks — that’s where all those plans will start coming together,” she said.
Overland Park-based Embarq has about 2,800 local employees. CenturyLink, which has said it will keep a “significant presence” in Overland Park, expects to save $400 million a year by 2011 because of the combination.
No target has been set for a number of jobs to be eliminated, Sartor said, and the cuts are expected to occur on a rolling basis.
“The more time that goes by, the more it’s going to ramp up,” she said.
Most people whose jobs will end will know in advance because of decisions about which company’s system to use, which would result in an integration process over time, Sartor said. For example, the transition from the Embarq to the CenturyTel billing system is expected to take a year and a half, she said.
Embarq executives who continue with CenturyLink may not need to move to Monroe, Sartor said.
Embarq, which spun off from Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) in 2006, ranked No. 3 on the Kansas City Business Journal’s list of area public companies.
