It’s too much to expect that Motorola will be the only causality in the ongoing economic crisis as far as the mobile phone industry is concerned. While Sprint Nextel is not a mobile phone manufacturer, they also play a major role in the industry as a service provider, and sad to say, they too are feeling the heat at the moment.

The company has just announced that they will be reducing internal and external labor costs by $1.2 billion which basically means laying off 8,000 employees. The retrenchment will begin on March 31st and covers all levels in the company. Furthermore, they will also be putting on hold their 401(k) matching program for 2009 which extends the salary freeze from last year and carries it over to this new year.

This is definitely not good news and a sure sign that 2009 will even be a more challenging year for the entire industry. Hopefully, they can still keep their heads afloat amidst these trying times and see it through for a successful recovery soon.

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