Nortel to cut 2,100 jobs and move others

TORONTO, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Toronto communications technology giant Nortel on Wednesday announced restructuring plans that included cutting 2,100 jobs.

The company will also displace 1,000 additional positions by moving them "to higher growth and lower cost geographies," the company said.

The move is part of a restructuring initiative begun two years ago, Nortel said. It also comes in the wake of $844 million in fourth quarter losses for 2007.

The losses included a $1.1 billion "non-cash charge," which resulted from the gains the Canadian dollar has made over the U.S. dollar and an increased valuation allowance against the company's deferred Canadian tax assets, the statement said.

"Nortel continued to make strong progress in the fourth quarter as we completed a pivotal year in our transformation," Chief Executive Officer Mike Zafirovski said.

"In a period of significant change for our industry, we have now reported six consecutive quarters of strong year over year improvement in operating margin," he said.