Juniper Loop: Through acquisitions and growth, Juniper Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: JNPR) is at a three-year headcount high, according to figures from its most recent annual report. The company added more than 900 employees after it bought NetScreen, and it had already added about 400 back in 2002 when it ate Unisphere. "We had 2,948, 1,553, and 1,542 employees as of December 31, 2004, 2003, and 2002, respectively," the company's report states.

Sweet Jain: Big Bear Networks has found a successor to Mark Thompson, its former CEO who joined Fairchild Semiconductor International (Nasdaq: FCS) back in November 2004 (see Big Bear Grabs CEO). The new CEO at Big Bear is Amit Jain, who founded Versatile Optical Networks, a company that was acquired by Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. (Nasdaq: VTSS) back in 2001. Jain remained at Vitesse's Optical System Division until it was acquired by Avanex Corp. (Nasdaq: AVNX) in 2003. Despite his move to Fairchild, Thompson remains on Big Bear's board of directors.

Carrier Class: If CLEC extinction is the rule, US LEC Corp. (Nasdaq: CLEC) is the exception. Though the company is multiplying its losses at around the same clip that it's multiplying its revenues, it has, so far, at least kept itself from shrinking (see US LEC Acquires StarNet).

The carrier employed 1,065 workers as of December 31, 2004, and has steadily boosted its headcount for at least the last five years. Its headcount has increased 30 percent in five years, but it has added 18,400 business-class customers -- a 468 percent increase -- during that same time period. One huge help in that effort is that the carrier doesn't resell ILEC access lines, nor does it provide service via Unbundled Network Element Platforms (UNE-Ps).

We Remember September: Last week, wire services reported Lucent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: LU) was going to close a research facility in Landover, Md., where it builds its PacketStar PSAX device. The company told the Associated Press it will ship the 110 jobs to India, and also cut 40 engineering jobs in Westford, Mass.

Sound familiar? It should. Light Reading nailed the story back in September 2004, when it correctly reported that Lucent's offshoring activities were increasing. "Sources say Lucent is in the process of streamlining the staff of its Landover, Md., business unit that works on the PacketStar PSAX access concentrator products, a product Lucent acquired in 1998 when it purchased Yurie Systems for $1 billion," Light Reading's report stated (see Lucent Offshoring Wave Hits Hard). "This could result in the loss of as many as 100 jobs, although much of the maintenance of this product is being moved to new engineers in Bangalore, India."

We wrap up, as usual, with a summary of other industry appointments and disappointments from the past few days:

That's all for now. But it doesn't have to be. Keep those news tips coming to [email protected].

— Phil Harvey, News Editor, Light Reading