WorldCom Cuts Jobs

Telecommunications giant WorldCom Inc. laid off nearly 6,000 workers worldwide in an effort to cut expenses and raise profit. Nearly every segment of the company was affected, said a source who spoke on condition of anonymity. The cuts accounted for about 7% of WorldCom’s international work force of 90,000 and mark just the second time in the company’s history it has let workers go. WorldCom, like AT&T; and Sprint, has been battered by long-distance price wars and new competition from wireless phones and technology that enables calls to be placed over the Internet. Shares of Jackson, Miss.-based WorldCom fell 63 cents to close at $16.63 on Nasdaq.