CenturyLink Inc., in a move it is calling a consolidation, will close its Des Moines business office and offer 144 employees there a job with the company in Sioux City, said Nancy Devinay-McNeley, CenturyLink’s market development manager for Iowa.

Devinay-McNeley said CenturyLink can absorb all of the workers displaced by shuttering the Des Moines office. Whether those workers decide to move is another matter. The office will close Sept. 7. The company employs 1,500 people in the state.

Workers who do not opt to move to Sioux City would fall under seven employment packages, some coverned by a union contract, and those packages would outline termination and severance provisions, she said.

The company said the move was brought on by market forces.

“We need to stay competitive by reducing some of our cost structure,” Devinay-McNeley said.

CenturyLink is the third-largest telecommunications company in the United States, providing broadband, voice, wireless and managed services to consumers and businesses across the country. It also offers advanced entertainment services under the CenturyLink Prism TV and DirecTV brands.

It completed a merger with Quest Communications International Inc. last year.