Nokia to cut up to 200 jobs more in Finland on weaker demand

Friday, 5 May 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Nokia plans to cut up to 200 more jobs in Finland because of weak demand for its telecom network equipment.

The Finnish company said on Thursday that the cuts are part of a 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) global cost-savings plan which was announced after its 2016 acquisition of Franco-American rival Alcatel-Lucent.

“In order to succeed in this market environment we must continue to streamline our cost structure and to increase efficiency,” Nokia country manager Tommi Uitto said.

The new cuts would focus on the networks operations and support functions, he added.

Nokia, which has 6,100 employees in Finland and 101,000 globally, cut 960 jobs in its home market last year and also said it would do away with 1,400 positions in Germany.

A Nokia spokeswoman declined to give an overall estimate for the global headcount reduction, but unions have forecast a total of 10,000-15,000 jobs.

Nokia, which competes with Sweden’s Ericsson and China’s Huawei, reported falling first-quarter profits last month, but said the networks market was showing signs of recovery.

Ericsson, which plunged to a loss in the first quarter, cut almost 5,000 jobs last year as part of its own restructuring efforts.