Nippon Telegraph to Eliminate 21,000 Jobs

Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. said it will slash 21,000 jobs, or 9.4% of its work force, over three years because of increasing competition after years of market domination. NTT is following the path taken by other Japanese blue-chip companies in recent months, all of which are trying to slim down for a more globally competitive future. NTT’s proposal to cut jobs, like most of the others, does not involve layoffs. Positions will be shed through such methods as attrition, a hiring freeze and the transfer of employees to subsidiaries. NTT, the world’s second-largest telecommunications company after AT&T; Corp., held a long virtual monopoly in Japan’s lucrative telecommunications industry. But the government broke it up in July, splitting it into two regional telephone companies and one long-distance and international operation.