Verizon pays the price for job cuts

Verizon Communications has announced that it will sustain sizeable fourth quarter charges to pay for the costs of job cuts. The company will take USD3.7 billion in charges, of which USD2.8 billion will be allocated to previously announced job cuts and between USD700-900 million to pension payouts. The USD2.8 billion charge, which relats to the costs of an early retirement incentive plan which is expected to be accepted by 10% of its workforce, will be recorded in its fourth quarter accounts, with the remainder recorded in the first quarter of next year.