Newsletter
Embattled Finnish telecommunication network equipment maker Nokia has announced yet another round of job cuts after years of painful restructuring that has resulted in over 25,000 job cuts since 2011 alone. This time around though, the cuts are likely to be much less severe, with only around 70 jobs from Nokia Technologies likely to be axed according to sources. The unit reportedly employs 650 people globally out of which, around 400 are based out of Finland according to Reuters. All the redundancies are reported to be in Finland itself, a country which is still reeling from the after-effects of the recession that had engulfed the Euro zone over the past few years.
Nokia Technologies is one of three business units that remained, after Nokia sold off its mobile handsets business to Microsoft last year. Nokia Networks is by far the largest part of the company, dealing in network equipment. HERE maps is Nokia’s maps and navigation business that Nokia is preparing to sell. Nokia Technologies unit handles Nokia’s patents licensing business and is also reported to be working towards Nokia’s re-entry into the consumer-facing mobile device space. On Wednesday, Nokia issued a statement saying that staff reductions are driven by alterations in its operational strategy and associated organizational changes. The company also admitted that the streamlining of operations and cost-cutting measures that will have to be implemented may lead to redundancies, but refused to go into any details or specify how many. Last week at its AGM (Annual General Meeting) held in Helsinki, Finland, the CEO Mr. Rajiv Suri laid out the reasons for buying Alcatel Lucent, but refused to comment on whether to expect further job cuts as a result of the proposed deal.
The announcement of this latest round of job cuts comes close on the heels of news that Nokia’s quarterly profits for Q1, 2015 have been significantly below market estimates, resulting in its stocks plunging as much as 10 percent in a single trading session late last month. There have also been talks about a possible takeover by Nokia of their smaller rival Alcatel-Lucent – a deal which now looks to be in jeopardy. Last week, there were also reports of Nokia looking to hive off its HERE maps and navigation unit to Facebook – a deal that spokespersons from both companies confirmed.