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Sprint Laying Off More Than 800 Employees In Kansas City Area

Peggy Lowe
/
KCUR

Sprint Corp. is laying off more than 800 employees at its Overland Park headquarters.

The telecommunications company filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act, or WARN, notice with the state of Kansas late Friday. The firm said it's letting go a total of 829 workers.

Sprint spokesperson Michelle Boyd says the layoffs are part of the company's $2.5 billion plan to cut operating costs over the next three months.

"Unfortunately, as we've said over the past several months, the effort to reduce our costs would impact all areas of our business, including jobs," Boyd said in a statement. "We value and support our employees and are committed to assisting them through this transition."

Sprint already parted ways with 195 employees in 2015, according to the Kansas City Business Journal. The 829 employees affected by the layoffs will receive full severance packages. If Sprint lets more employees go after Jan. 30, they will only receive half the current severance benefits

RELATED:How One Sprint Employee Is Bracing For Layoffs

This latest effort to cut costs comes after Sprint already slashed $1.5 billion and 2,000 total employees in 2014. About 200 of those workers were based in Overland Park.

Sprint has struggled against competitors Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile, despite making up some ground last year, according to The Kansas City Star.

Sprint will retain about 6,000 employees at its headquarters.

Cody Newill is a reporter for KCUR. You can reach him on Twitter @CodyNewill or send him an email at cody@kcur.org. 

Cody Newill is part of KCUR's audience development team. Follow him on Twitter @CodyNewill or email him at cody@kcur.org.
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