Finnish telecoms equipment maker Nokia announced on Tuesday it will slash up to 11% of its workforce within two years as the firm looks to cut costs and focus on a few key areas in the face of tough competition over super-fast 5G networks.
Announcing a 600-million-euro ($715-million) cost-cutting programme, it said it expects to become “an 80,000–85,000 employee organisation, over an 18–24-month period, instead of the approximately 90,000 employees Nokia has today.”
It said it is “too early to comment in detail” on where the job cuts will take place, but said “France is excluded due to previously announced planned restructuring.”
The loss of over 1,000 jobs in France is still underway after Nokia’s 2016 takeover of Alcatel-Lucent.
Finland, where the group’s headquarters are located and where it last year recruited over 1,200 new 5G posts, is also expected to be largely spared, with Nokia saying that it expects the restructuring to have a “net positive” impact in the Nordic country.
Nokia’s share price fell slightly after the announcement but had rallied to its previous close of 3.62 euros by 11:30am on the Helsinki stock exchange.
The Finnish group is due to announce further details of its strategy and long-term financial forecasts on Thursday.
