Qwest says it won’t hang up on Iowa employees

Officials with QWEST, the company that bought U-S West in July, have announced they’ll lay-off 11-thousand workers by the end of next year. Qwest serves 750-thousand customers in Iowa. Qwest spokesman Brice Hallowell says very few Iowa employees will be cut.Qwest has over 26-hundred employees in Iowa, but only 50 to 60 will lose their jobs. Hallowell says it won’t be technicians who’ll be fired. White-collar management jobs will be trimmed. Hallowell says the Denver-based company wants to focus on high-speed Internet access, wireless communications and new digital lines. Qwest has 25-million customers in a region which stretches from Iowa to Washington State.