News In Brief

Reports of heavy layoffs dominated business headlines, with- in some cases - major corporations announcing a second round of cuts only weeks after the first:

* Cisco Systems said it will eliminate 8,500 jobs, about 1,000 more than it had predicted last month. The networking giant rocked Wall Street by announcing it expects third-quarter revenues to drop by 30 percent.

* At least 6,000 more jobs - and perhaps as many as 30,000 - are expected to be cut by Ericsson, the world leader in mobile telecommunications networks, the Financial Times and Swedish business journal Dagens Industri reported. Ericsson, which laid off 3,300 workers last month, declined to comment until its quarterly earnings report is issued Friday.

* Philips, the Dutch electronics giant, announced it will eliminate up to 7,000 jobs because of heavier than expected losses in its consumer products and components divisions.

* Eastman Kodak said it will cut 3,500 jobs. The Rochester, N.Y., company, a world leader in photography, also announced it will spread a restructuring charge of up to $450 million over the second and third quarters.

* Texas Instruments, the Dallas-based maker of semiconductors, was to announce that at least 2,000 of its employees will be cut, The Wall Street Journal reported. TI already had implemented a voluntary retirement program and a hiring freeze and last month said it would close a plant in Santa Cruz, Calif., eliminating 600 jobs.

* Bedford, Mass.-based Millipore Corp., a leader in liquid- and gas-purification products, said it would lay off more than 400 employees, about 13 percent of its work-force.

* Comair, the US's second-largest regional airline, announced it will eliminate 200 pilot jobs and reduce its fleet by 17 planes to save money as a pilots' strike moves into its fourth week. Analysts estimate the carrier, owned by Delta, is losing up to $4 million a day.

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor