America's largest telecommunications company AT&T on Thursday announced 12,000 jobs cuts as a measure to cut costs.

AT&T is the largest provider of local and long distance telephone services, internet services and wireless services in the United States with more than 15 crore customers.

The reductions amount to 4 percent of its current work force. Lay offs will start this months and will continue in 2009.

Big defensive companies like AT&T believed to be immune to current financial turmoil but this announcement shows that the current recession has affected all the sectors very badly.