Williams says it plans to offer early retirement packages to approximately 450 employees, or about 4% of its worldwide work force, in order to eliminate the duplication in its human resources, information technology and finance departments.

The Tulsa, OK-based energy company’s action is largely tied to its earlier decision to spin off Williams Communications into a separate company last April, which reduced the company’s worldwide work force by half to 12,000. “We have continued to look at our staffing needs since [then],” said spokeswoman Carol Ward.

The early retirement packages will be offered to 250 workers at its Tulsa headquarters, and to 200 workers in Houston, Owensboro, KY, and Salt Lake City, she noted. To be eligible, employees much be 50 years or older by March 31 of this year, and have five years of pension-vested service.

“This is what [job cuts] we’ve identified now,” Ward said. She declined to speculate as to whether more would be in the offing, but she noted “we’re always looking for ways to make things more efficient.”

Ward said the job cuts were not connected to Williams’ plans to reduce its debt and bolster its credit rating in the wake of Enron Corp.’s financial collapse.

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