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At WorldCom Headquarters, Many Await Word of Former CEO

Aired June 27, 2002 - 10:14   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the other big story from yesterday, shareholders getting burned, and they are not alone. As the WorldCom accounting scandal unfolds now, as many as 17,000 employees are now facing layoffs, and that could begin as soon as tomorrow.

CNN's Casey Wian is outside the company headquarters in Clinton, Mississippi.

Good morning.

CASEY WIAN, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.

You know, there are about 1,000 employees here at WorldCom corporate headquarters in Clinton. They arrived for work this morning, knowing that for many of them, this will be their last full day on the job.

According to local officials, there used to be about 2,000 people here, and this company was Clinton's largest employer. But WorldCom's snowballing financial troubles have -- layoffs have been going on for a couple of months now, and that employment is down to about 1,000.

Employees are under obvious orders not to talk to the media about what's happening inside of WorldCom. The only things that some of the people would say is that they are very confused about what happened, and very worried about their job prospects.

Now, new CEO John Sidgmore tried to ease some of those fears yesterday when he addressed employees and said that WorldCom will continue as a company, will stay in business. He also pointed out that unlike other corporate scandals that we have seen in recent months, WorldCom turned itself in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN SIDGMORE, CEO, WORLDCOM: This company is absolutely committed to operating in accordance with the highest ethical standards. And of course, I and the other members of executive management are shocked about these developments.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WIAN: Now, you might think that a big company -- the potential loss of a big company, the bankruptcy of big company are all being discussed -- you might think that might have a huge economic impact on a small town like Clinton, Mississippi. But local officials here say that actually the impact is going to be fairly muted, because the economy here is relatively diversified.

As we mentioned, WorldCom is no longer the largest employer. There is a big auto parts manufacturer here. Nissan is scheduled to open a plant near here in a couple of months. So they are very concerned, but they believe that the local economy will be able to survive this shock.

Now, the one person that everyone is waiting to hear from, who hasn't said anything since this scandal unfolded, is former WorldCom CEO Bernie Evers. He is the man who, of course, built this company. He went to college here. He played basketball for Mississippi College. You know, despite growing evidence of fraud that the company has admitted to under Bernie Evers' watch, many local people remain loyal to the man who put Clinton on the map, including this real estate agent who went to college with Evers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID STEVENS, REALTOR: Bernie still has a very high credibility. He is a fine Christian man. And he has not, to my knowledge, responded to any of these items or things that have been asked. And until he responds to that, my opinion of him is still very high.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIAN: Responses from Evers, of course, anxiously awaited by many people: local people here in Clinton, shareholders, the Securities and Exchange Commission, possibly the Justice Department. There are going to be a lot of questions asked, and hopefully answered, by Mr. Evers over the next couple of weeks -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right. Thanks, Casey.

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