Recent report of added shifts to meet demand at OCCF, now this from Corning:

Corning to Resume Production at 2 Plants
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Corning Inc. (NYSE:GLW - news), the world's largest maker of fiber-optic cable, said on Friday it will resume production of optical fiber at two North Carolina plants that employ about 2,000 people, starting the week of Jan. 21.

The company, based in Corning, New York, said some of the 800 workers at its Concord plant and 1,200 workers at its Wilmington plant will be recalled, although the exact numbers have not been determined.

Spokesman Paul Rogoski said the resumption of production was not necessarily a sign that demand was picking up. Corning said in October it did not anticipate significant market recovery until late 2002 or 2003.

``We still see flat growth, as far as we can tell, through 2002, but we have continued to work down our inventory,' he said. ``It's a combination of meeting current customer demand, having burned through some of that inventory.'

The economic slowdown has hurt most telecom suppliers, causing them to cut jobs and reduce financial forecasts.

In early October, Corning expanded its restructuring efforts -- including 4,000 more job cuts and temporary plant shutdowns -- because of the deteriorating conditions across all of its businesses.

The company employed 43,000 people at its peak last year and said the job cuts by the end of 2001 might reach 12,000.

In early October, Corning said it would temporarily idle most of its global optical fiber plants, starting later that month and resuming operations in 2002 as business improved.

It also said it would curtail output at its optical cable plants to match the lower demand and reduce its inventories, and close or consolidate several other plants and businesses in the telecom and advanced materials segments.

Corning also said that it would continue to cut costs, with further job cuts possible.

Corning's stock was off 33 cents, or 3.4 percent, at $9.37 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.