Windstream to lay off 67 in Arkansas, 400 nationwide

On Friday, Windstream Communications announced it will be laying off 400 employees nationwide by March 3. The logo for Windstream Communications was unveiled in this 2006 file photo. Windstream Communications is a spinoff of Alltel's landline business and merger with Valor Communications Group.
On Friday, Windstream Communications announced it will be laying off 400 employees nationwide by March 3. The logo for Windstream Communications was unveiled in this 2006 file photo. Windstream Communications is a spinoff of Alltel's landline business and merger with Valor Communications Group.

Windstream Communications announced Friday afternoon that the company will lay off 67 employees in Arkansas — including 36 in Little Rock — as part of a nationwide cutback which will eliminate 400 employees overall.

The layoffs will occur by March 3, according to a news release from the company. Around 175 of the layoffs are being terminated “through a voluntary separation initiative,” according to the release.

The reduction in their workforce will save the company $20 million, according to the release. To pay severance benefits, the company says it expects to take on a $9-10 million charge in the first fiscal quarter.

“Changes that affect people are never easy, but they are necessary for Windstream to succeed in a highly competitive marketplace,” Jeff Gardner, president and chief executive officer of Windstream, said in a statement. “We continue to invest in our growth areas, primarily business services and consumer broadband, and at the same time we must maintain a disciplined approach to expense management.”

The Little Rock-based communications company, which has 13,500 employees nationwide, offers both business and residential home phone, Internet and data solutions. A November report in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette indicated that the company’s profits fell 34 percent in the third quarter of 2013.

Read more about this story in tomorrow’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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