CenturyLink Announces Layoffs Post-Level 3 Buy

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CenturyLink on Friday confirmed it is laying off more than 150 employees after the recent close of its $34 billion acquisition of Level 3 Communications.

About 165 employees are being impacted by the layoffs, including 37 in Louisiana, where the company is based. CenturyLink announced the completion of the merger on Nov. 1.

“As a result of our acquisition of Level 3, our customers, from individual consumers to global enterprises, benefit from our expanded, innovative network solutions and our complementary managed services,” said CenturyLink spokesman Mark Molzen. “The combination of the two companies also has meant that we must eliminate redundant positions. As a result, we are eliminating IT positions in product development and technology.”

Employees were notified this week and most will be leaving the company in the next few weeks, he said. They are receiving severance benefits, he said.

With Level 3, CenturyLink has 52,500 employees. It previously had 40,000 employees.

Going forward, about 75 percent of CenturyLink’s core revenue will come from business customers, and nearly two-thirds of its core revenue will come from strategic services. Its network now connects more than 350 metropolitan areas with more than 100,000 fiber-enabled, on-net buildings, including 10,000 buildings in EMEA and Latin America.

Last week, CenturyLink reported smaller profit and revenue for the third quarter compared to the same quarter of last year.