As economy worsens, pink slips abound: Alvarion, NeuStar announce cuts

Alvarion Ltd. and NeuStar Inc. became the latest wireless companies to announce jobs cuts amid an increasingly tightening economy.
First up: WiMAX vendor Alvarion, which said today it will cut its global headcount by about 110 people, which is 11% of its 1,000-person workforce.
The company also said it will reduce salaries for its management, but provided no details.
The combined savings – to take effect by year’s end – is expected to be about $15 million annually.
Alvarion, based in Tel Aviv, Israel, cited “macro-economic uncertainty” and said it had not seen any equipment orders cancelled yet.
“But we see lengthening sales cycles, and we remain cautious about the potential effect of the economic climate on WiMAX-related spending decisions as we move through next year,” said Tzvika Friedman, president and CEO of Alvarion.
NeuStar suffers
Meantime, shares of NeuStar inched upward after the company said it will cut as many as 110 positions in an effort to streamline its mobile instant-messaging business.
The Sterling, Va.-based company said the layoffs will be completed by mid-2009 and will result in a 35% to 40% savings of its total next-generation messaging (NGM) expenses. NeuStar expects to take a restructuring charge of $2.2 million to $2.5 million this quarter for severance, lease costs and related expenses.
NeuStar created its NGM Services division in November 2007, following the $139 million acquisition of Followap Inc., a provider of instant messaging, presence and interconnected services. The division handles IM managed services for 37 carriers across Europe and Asia Pacific.
Alvarion and NeuStar join a growing number of companies cutting staff due to the economy and other factors. AirIQ recently cut 36% of its workforce, and AT&T Inc. cut 12,000 jobs, though none in its wireless division.