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Telecommunications equipment manufacturer Alcatel-Lucent announced plans today to eliminate 1,000 employees, or about 1.3% of its global workforce, and 5,000 contract positions. Many analysts actually expected more drastic moves from the company since it has come under new management. The firm has struggled financially since its creation in 2006 with the merger of Lucent Technologies and Alcatel. More recently, slowing demand, greater competition, and rising costs have pushed the firm, now led by Ben Verwaayen to enact a cost-saving plan expected to save $991 million.