By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — Windstream Corp. of Little Rock announced today it will eliminate about 350 positions, or roughly 5 percent of its work force, by the end of the year.

Twenty of the telecommunications company’s 1,200 employees in Arkansas were notified Wednesday that their positions are being eliminated, spokesman David Avery said. Most of those 20 positions are corporate positions in Little Rock, but all departments throughout the company will be affected, he said.

More positions in the state could be eliminated if additional employees voluntarily accept severance packages, Avery said. The company hopes to eliminate a portion of the 350 positions through means other than layoffs.
“Roughly 100 of those positions are either vacant positions or are positions that would be eliminated through normal attrition,” Avery said.

Windstream employs about 7,100 people in 16 states.

The downsizing will offset declining revenue from Windstream’s residential phone business and allow the company to focus on broadband and business enterprise opportunities, the company said in a news release.

“These changes are difficult because they affect people, but are necessary for Windstream to proactively manage the transformation of our business model and to continue our industry-leading financial performance,” Windstream President and CEO Jeff Gardner said.

The company said it will take a $15 million charge in the fourth quarter to pay severance benefits and will provide outplacement counseling. Laid-off employees will be allowed to apply for other vacant positions within the company.

Windstream provides phone, Internet and digital television services. Its annual revenue is about $3.1 billion.