CORNING, N.Y., and HICKORY, N.C. -- Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) today announced that, effective immediately, Corning Cable Systems has reduced the workforce in its NAFTA region facilities to further align costs with current business conditions as a decline in the telecommunications industry continues. Approximately 450 hourly and salaried positions at Corning Cable Systems locations in North Carolina, Texas, Missouri, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Mexico have been eliminated. Additionally, the company has announced that another 450 employees have accepted one of three voluntary separation offers made by the company on August 3, 2001. That program gave employees a choice of taking early retirement, voluntary severance or voluntary layoff. Today's reductions come after the combined results of the company's cost-control measures and the voluntary work force reduction program were not sufficient to bring the company's cost structure in line with current business demand. "The decisions we are announcing did not come easily, and are not taken lightly," said Sandy Lyons, president and chief executive officer of Corning Cable Systems. "The decline in the telecom business has been unrelenting, and unfortunately, we don't see a near-term recovery. Since the first of the year, we have instituted several cost-reduction measures to preserve jobs as long as possible. Regrettably, what we're continuing to see in the marketplace has forced us to take this broader action."Corning Inc.