Sprint to eliminate 8,000 jobs

Sprint Nextel Corp. said Monday it will eliminate 8,000 jobs in the first three months of 2009 as part of an effort to reduce costs in the face of a deepening U.S. recession. The job cuts will occur at every level of the company and result in $1.2 billion in annual savings, Sprint said. The company plans to take a onetime $300 million expense in the first quarter related to the layoffs. It's the latest in a series of steps by Sprint under CEO Dan Hesse to reduce costs and make the company more competitive with bigger rivals AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. In related news, Sprint also moved up its fourth-quarter earnings release to Feb. 19