Search the Internet          Tips  Sites: Finance, Investment

Enron to cut up to 10% of European workers: WSJ

Enron Corp is looking to cut its work force in Europe by up to 10 per cent, or around 500 jobs, in a move to cut costs and maintain earnings growth, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

"We have around 5,000 employees in Europe and we are seeking to cut our headcount here by between 5 per cent and 10 per cent, but we will aim as far as possible to achieve this through a program of voluntary severance," John Sherriff, chief executive of Enron Europe told the newspaper.

The cuts are the first significant retrenchment by Enron since it arrived in Europe in 1989.

Enron has been the most aggressive US energy company to expand into Europe's deregulating markets, but its core energy-trading businesses have been held back by the slow and piecemeal progress toward market liberalisation in the European Union, the paper reported.

The company declined to be more specific about how far it would scale back individual product lines or coverage of certain geographical areas, the Wall Street Journal said.

"Enron's business continues to grow in Europe in terms of traded volumes and numbers of transactions, but like any company we are constantly seeking ways to do more with less in order to maintain earnings growth," Sherriff told the paper.

ALSO READ:
The Enron Saga