BIG CUTS RUMORED AT XEROX.

Byline: Ben Dobbin Associated Press 

A Xerox Corp. drive to ``aggressively and relentlessly'' trim costs could mean big cutbacks, analysts said Tuesday, and one newspaper reported 10,000 jobs would be eliminated.

The belt-tightening at a company that only recently had been adding jobs comes as Xerox moves to better compete in the exploding digital copier business.

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, citing unidentified sources, said Xerox will announce 10,000 job cuts - almost 11 percent of its work force of 91,400 - the week of April 6.

As many as 2,000 jobs will go in Rochester, home to 13,900 employees, and Xerox is likely to take a charge as high as $1 billion in the second quarter to pay for the cutbacks over the next two years, the newspaper said.

``We regard the story as speculative and have no comment on it,'' said Judd Everhart, a spokesman at Xerox headquarters in Stamford, Conn.

The company's stock rose on the reports, but closed below its high of the day, finishing with a gain of 25 cents at $96.62-1/2 a share on the New York Stock Exchange. On Monday and again Tuesday, the stock reached a new intraday high of $99.37-1/2 before retreating.

Wall Street analysts said there are rumblings that Xerox is sharpening its scalpel.

Buoyed by robust sales of its new family of digital black-and-white copiers, Xerox enjoyed a 20 percent jump in profits last year. Digital equipment now accounts for more than 40 percent of sales.

However, the company has struggled to pare costs fast enough as it makes the transition to digital models.

``They probably simply realized that in order to be competitive worldwide, they're going to have to get the cost down,'' said Janet Barnard, an associate professor of management at the Rochester Institute of Technology. ``And the longer you delay, the worse it gets.''