Alcatel-Lucent plans to reduce its staff by 10,000 to try to save a billion euros ($1.4 billion) by 2015. According to Le Figaro the group, which employs 72,000 staff worldwide, will axe 15,000 posts but create 5,000 new jobs.

The company intends to cut 900 net posts in France, or roughly 10 percent of the domestic workforce, as well as closing sites at Rennes and Toulouse, and selling plants at Eu and Ormes. The cuts would hit all regions, with 4,100 planned in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 3,800 in Asia, and 2,100 in the Americas. 

The moves are part of the cunning plan of Michel Combes, who took the helm of Alcatel-Lucent in April.

The company has posted five straight quarters of net losses and last year had a net loss of 1.2 billion euros. Combes, who used to run telecom giant Vodafone's European businesses, is the third CEO to try to sort out Alcatel.