The Swiss government has called on the country's main telecommunications operator, Swisscom, to make as few redundancies as possible if its plans to cut a further 3,000 jobs between 2001 and 2003 are approved.

The Swiss government has called on the country's main telecommunications operator, Swisscom, to make as few redundancies as possible if its plans to cut a further 3,000 jobs between 2001 and 2003 are approved.

It also says it expects Swisscom to find socially acceptable solutions for employees together with staff associations. The Confederation is the majority shareholder in Swisscom.

The company chief executive officer, Jens Alder, announced last Friday that Swisscom would cut the jobs as part of measures aimed at improving efficiency.

The communications minister, Moritz Leunberger, said after a cabinet meeting Wednesday that he and finance minister Kaspar Villiger would discuss the Swisscom plans at a meeting with a delegation of Swisscom's board of directors. No date has yet been fixed.

Leunberger said that the government could not change the situation in the liberalised Swiss telecommunications market but wanted to make the Confederation's mandate to Swisscom clear. The company's guiding policies were to offer a public service, to strengthen competition and pursue a socially responsible labour policy.

Leuenberger added that solutions could include new job possibilities for those concerned and retraining.

swissinfo with agencies

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