It’s a sign of the times for Nortel Networks Corp.
The Canadian telecommunications gear maker recently took down Nortel signs from an office building facing the San Diego (I-405) Freeway at Irvine Center Towers.
So is Nortel leaving Orange County?
No, said Jay Barta, a spokesman for the Brampton, Ontario, company. The signs are coming down with a change in the company’s lease under new owner The Irvine Company.
Earlier this year, the Irvine Co. bought Irvine Center Towers near John Wayne Airport from Philadelphia-based healthcare insurer Cigna Corp. and Houston-based Transwestern Commercial Services.
Irvine Co. spokesman Bill Rams referred questions on the signs to the company.
“I can confirm that the office is staying intact,” Nortel’s Barta said. “It would be inappropriate to go into more detail. We are not taking as much space.”
Sources familiar with Nortel’s sales office in Irvine say the company has downsized through the years.
The 11th floor where Nortel’s local office is based is undergoing renovation. The Irvine Co. is advertising on its Web site that it wants to lease more than 6,200 square feet of space on the floor.
In June, Nortel announced layoffs of 1,200 employees. Another 700 workers could lose their jobs through a combination of middle-management layoffs and restructuring.
There have not been any recent layoffs in Irvine, Barta said. Nor is Nortel planning any there related to its latest restructuring, he said.
Nortel employs about 80 people in the OC area who work from their homes, according to Barta.
“I can’t provide specific employee numbers on total employees in the office or (who) are home-based in the region,other than confirm that we have both there,” he said.
Nortel started a telecommuting program more than a decade ago. As of May, Nortel had more than 2,300 people who worked from home, Barta said.
The company has been beset by accounting problems and lawsuits. Nortel has restated earnings three times in the past three years.
In June, it agreed to settle a $1.9 billion lawsuit with shareholders over accounting fraud.
