CenturyLink will reduce its workforce by 7-8 percent by mid-December, first with voluntary severance packages and then layoffs.

CenturyLink spokesman Mark Molzen tells Channel Partners that the Monroe, Louisiana-based telco continually evaluates its cost structure and business practices, and adjusts its operations to meet the needs of the business.

“After careful consideration, CenturyLink has made the difficult decision to reduce its employee related costs,” he said. “We are approaching this initially on a voluntary basis. Employees who take voluntary severance packages can participate in outplacement assistance programs, subject to terms of any applicable collective bargaining agreement, including career planning, resume preparation, marketing plan development, interview preparation and job search method training.”

With about 43,000 employees, a 7-8 percent workforce reduction would impact roughly 3,000-3,400 people.

The workforce reduction isn’t focused on any specific group of employees, Molzen said.{ad}

“We are doing everything we can to minimize the impact to employees by reducing business-related expenses, but we anticipate the employee impact will be about 7-8 percent,” he said. “Most of these changes are expected to be fully implemented by Dec. 16, 2016, although there may be exceptions due to the needs of the business.”

In August 2015, CenturyLink announced plans to reduce its national workforce by 1,000, a cost-cutting measure that the company planned to fully implement by that September.

CenturyLink offers network and data systems management, big-data analytics and IT consulting, and operates more than 55 data centers in North America, Europe and Asia. The company provides broadband, voice, video, data and managed services over a 250,000-route-mile U.S. fiber network and a 300,000-route-mile international transport network.