Core routing startup Hyperchip Inc. has cut its workforce by between 40 and 50 people, sources close to the company say. The last reported cuts at the company came in October 2002, when it whacked about 87 from payroll (see Startups Make More Cuts).

Marco Pagani, president of Optical Ethernet and Storage Solutions at Nortel Networks Corp. (NYSE/Toronto: NT), has left the building. Nortel says Pagani actually left quietly in late 2003, and there's no info about what he's doing now. As late as November, Pagani was still being quoted in the company's PR materials. Nortel hasn't replaced Pagani, but his duties have been assumed by Brian McFadden, Nortel's president of Optical Networks.

Rumors continue that Ciena Corp. (Nasdaq: CIEN) is about to undergo (another) major corporate restructuring. Taking a look at the numbers, it's clear that Ciena could make a case for cutting back. The company cut some 450 jobs between the second quarter of 2003 and the first quarter of 2004, according to its Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. Its worldwide headcount at the end of the first quarter was 1,778. But after all that cutting, it recently agreed to acquire about 110 more staff with the acquisition of Internet Photonics Inc. and about 250 more staff with the Catena Networks Inc. purchase (see Ciena Buying Binge Alarms Analysts).

Korean cell phone operator SK Telecom Co. says Kim Sin-bae has been appointed CEO from his current position as managing director. Its former CEO, Pyo Moon-Soo resigned on February 24.

Here are some of the other appointments and disappointments from the past several days:

That's the story this week. Until next time, feel free to pepper us with your salty news tips by sending email to: [email protected]. We'll tell you whether or not they taste like chicken.

— Phil Harvey, News Editor, Light Reading