WorldCom's Irish workforce must wait until the end of the month before learning if they are to be included in the 5,000 redundancies announced by the troubled US telecoms giant yesterday, writes Edward Power.

The group, which last July filed the largest bankruptcy in US corporate history, said it was trimming 8 per cent of its global workforce in an effort to shore up €200 million monthly losses. But it said it would not reveal where the cuts would be implemented until the end of February.

WorldCom, which employs some 130 in Dublin, Cork and Limerick, has already shed 17,000 jobs since confessing last summer to massive accounting irregularities that allowed it to appear profitable even though it was losing money.

The company, which has 60,000 workers, said lay-offs would mainly involve its corporate and administrative staff, and would exclude sales, operations and technology functions. WorldCom said it would also renegotiate supplier contracts and consolidate offices.

Analysts predicted the group would dispose of assets, such as its Latin American operations, and outsource more technical operations to save money.

The company has said it would release its three-year business plan by March 1st. It must file a reorganisation plan with the US bankruptcy court by April 15th.