Posted on: Thursday, October 10, 2002

JOB MARKET
Spirent lays off 40 in Honolulu office, formerly Adtech

By John Duchemin
Advertiser Staff Writer

Telecommunications company Spirent has laid off about 40 employees in Honolulu as it struggles with poor market conditions.

The cuts, about 20 percent of Spirent's Hawai'i work force, is the latest in a series of moves by the London-based telecommunications test equipment maker, whose Honolulu office — formerly Adtech — is among the state's largest high-tech employers.

Spirent, which is cutting about 230 employees companywide, is feeling the effect as key customers in the slumping telecom sector face billions of dollars in losses. Companies including Lucent, Alcatel, SBC and Nortel have stopped buying new equipment, said Jackie Jefferson, Spirent's spokesperson in Honolulu.

"This is an extremely challenging time in the telecom market," Jefferson said yesterday. "The demand for all of Spirent's product lines has declined.... Customers are either delaying orders or just pulling back on putting new orders in."

Spirent stock lost two-thirds of its value yesterday as the company announced companywide layoffs and said demand and operating profits were significantly lower than expected in the third quarter.

Spirent was one of the state's fastest-growing companies in the late 1990s.

As Adtech, it expanded by producing cutting-edge products and garnered top-flight customers. Employees peaked at more than 300 in 2000 as Adtech reported yearly revenues of more than $150 million, and the highest profitability in Spirent's international network of subsidiaries.

The slowdown of the telecommunications industry last year saw demand collapse. Spirent has restructured its Honolulu operations several times, eliminating an assembly plant in Kaimuki and moving some functions to the Mainland. The Honolulu office lost the name Adtech, becoming a Spirent research and development center.

With the latest layoffs, Spirent Honolulu has about 170 employees.

Jefferson said Spirent is still committed to its Hawai'i work force, but cannot say what its long-term plans are for Honolulu.

"We're still not out of the woods yet, and we have to make that determination as time goes on," Jefferson said.

"But there are still some very talented folks here with some great projects ahead of them."

Reach John Duchemin at jduchemin@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8062.