Kansas City, Mo. ? Sprint Corp. announced Wednesday that it has laid off another 345 employees, most of them software developers.

Sprint spokeswoman Laurie Ellison said the layoffs were part of Sprint’s efforts to “adjust the work force to meet the current business needs” and to become more efficient.

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Three-hundred of the employees were software developers in Atlanta, Dallas, Kansas City and Reston, Va., Ellison said. The other 45 worked in the company’s finance department in Kansas City.

Ellison said the employees were notified Wednesday and the layoffs were effective immediately. The affected workers will receive severance packages based on how long they have worked for the company.

The layoffs follow the more than 9,000 layoffs Sprint has announced in recent months. Sprint PCS announced last month that it would cut 3,000 jobs and close five service centers. One of those centers is located in Lawrence and will affect about 500 employees. In October, Sprint announced it would cut 6,000 jobs and 1,500 contract workers.

Sprint, the nation’s third-largest long-distance carrier, is suffering through bleak times in the telecommunication industry.

In late February Sprint had to put up its directory publishing business to secure a $1 billion loan from Citibank NA and Deutsche Bank AG after the company found itself unable to raise as much short-term cash as it needed.

Earlier that month, Sprint reported that PCS and FON the company’s larger local and long-distance unit had a combined net loss of $1.4 billion in 2001.

But Sprint recently said it was on track to meet its financial targets for 2002. For the year, the company expects FON to earn $4.6 billion before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. It expects PCS EBITDA to reach $3 billion.

In trading on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, Sprint FON closed at $15.92, down 15 cents, while PCS closed at $11.08, down 97 cents.