<p>BellSouth Corp., the dominant local phone provider in nine Southeastern states, said Thursday it is cutting 1,500 management jobs, or 3 percent of its total work force, because of competition from cable providers.</p><p>The Atlanta-based company said the reductions will take place in supervisory and non-supervisory management positions, including staff support functions. Most of the reductions are expected to occur through the acceptance of voluntary severance packages and are to be completed by April 30, 2006.</p><p>"Reducing work force is the toughest business decision a company has to make," Chief Executive Duane Ackerman said in a statement. "We have worked hard to avoid it, but many companies our size and particularly our competitors operate with lower overhead and fewer management layers."</p><p>BellSouth will record an after-tax charge of roughly $95 million, approximately $50 million of which will be recognized in the fourth quarter of 2005.</p><p>The cuts amount to 3 percent of BellSouth's 63,000 total employees and 8 percent of its 21,000 management employees, spokesman Jeff Battcher said.</p><p>He said the company made the decision for competitive reasons.</p><p>Shares of the company rose 2 cents, or 0.1 percent, to close at $27.65 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1cd9c44)</p>
