Ameritech fired management workers Friday across a range of business units at its Hoffman Estates and downtown Chicago offices.
The cuts are part of Texas-based parent SBC Communications Inc.'s previously announced plan to eliminate "thousands of workers" from its nationwide workforce, according to sources.
Among the departments hit are product management, market research and data services, the sources said. An SBC spokesman confirmed that the company held "employee meetings" across the country on Friday to notify workers of the job cuts, but he declined to disclose the number of workers affected. He said this was the first round in the planned layoffs.
Analysts have estimated that SBC will eliminate up to 5% of its 215,000-person workforce, including up to 3,000 of Chicago-based Ameritech's 64,300 employees in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin.