AT&T plans to cut 75 positions from its Connecticut workforce by mid-November, part of a nationwide reduction due to declines in the telecommunications giant's land-line business.

Announced Tuesday, the cuts amount to just over 1 percent of the company's state workforce and are part of 2,500 cuts nationwide, according to the Communications Workers of America Local 1298, which represents AT&T workers in Connecticut.

"We've lost millions of land lines in recent years as customers have gone to other technologies or providers," said Walt Sharp, an AT&T spokesman based in Dallas. "When you have fewer wireline customers, you need fewer people to provide services."

AT&T has already cut more than 1,000 jobs in the state within the last two years.

Many of the latest local cuts will come from a call center in Meriden, where workers gathered Wednesday afternoon to protest the job reductions.

Sharp said the cuts will be completed in 45 days. They will come through voluntary buyouts and, if necessary, layoffs. All workers would be offered other jobs elsewhere in the state, but there will still be a net reduction of 75.

See full article at http://www.courant.com/business/hc-att-job-cuts-0923,0,2396040.story