Crane drops 24 staff

Telecoms firm blames market conditions for 10 per cent cut in workforce

Crane Telecommunications has axed 10 per cent of its employees in the past three weeks, citing market conditions as the reason for the cuts.

Russell Piper, group human resources director at Crane, said the firm was looking to place the 24 staff in new jobs.

"Getting rid of staff has always been a last resort for Crane," he said. "But our systems have not grown at the same rate as our staff."

Piper added that the firm had found some success in finding jobs for staff at resellers, and that backroom staff had taken the brunt of the redundancies, which had been across all business divisions.

John Conoley, managing director of reseller Convergent, now part of Azzurri, said he felt sympathy for the move.

"We are in a sector where any company that has not had to lay off 30 to 40 per cent of its staff in the past few years will have to do so soon," he said.

"I would rather see a company such as Crane manage its business and do this than hang onto a pipe dream that the market will spring back tomorrow."