Cable operator and IT company Sx3 have refused to rule out job losses in the North after they announced cost-cutting plans across their UK operations.
NTL will bring forward 2,000 planned job losses in the UK while Sx3 has confirmed it will cut staffing levels at some of its sites in Britain and Ireland.
US-owned NTL said yesterday it was unable to specify where the jobs would be shed across its operations but said it was unlikely that Northern Ireland would escape.
"We previously announced that 2,000 jobs would go in 2002 and we are accelerating that. No customer serving roles are affected by the redundancy programme," a spokesman said.
NTL first came to the North in 1996, with promises to invest up to £1 billion sterling (€1.61 billion) in the market and deliver more competitive telecoms charges. It employs around 350 people.
The group has halted its network construction programme in Northern Ireland and also abandoned investment plants for a call centre to employ 900 people.
As part of a group-wide initiative to cut its £12 billion sterling debt, NTL also plans to freeze its managers' pay levels and review all operating and capital expenses. It also plans to review and remove all non-essential consultants and contractors.
NTL refused to comment on which positions would be affected in Northern Ireland.
The latest round of job cuts would bring NTL's total employee numbers in the UK to 13,000.
Sx3, a subsidiary of Viridian, hopes to achieve its staff reduction targets through voluntary redundancies.
Sx3 has been one of the North's fastest growing firms since its launch in 1998.
It expanded rapidly from its Belfast base to sites in Dublin, Glasgow, Edinburgh and throughout Britain. The firm has not disclosed which sites will be affected by the restructuring programme.
In a statement issued yesterday the Belfast-based firm, which employs 1,400 people, remained confident of its long-term future but the downturn in the IT sector had affected its immediate business outlook.
"In line with other businesses in the IT sector, Sx3 is facing pressure on costs and the company has experienced a slower conversion of orders into revenue.
"The company is now rationalising some operational activities following the full integration of a number of businesses it acquired last year."
An NTL Ireland spokeswoman said job cuts could not be ruled out in the Republic until the Budget for 2002 had been finalised.
"We will be firmly focused on growing our bottom line by increasing our revenues while tightly controlling our cost base," NTL said in a statement.
