Nokia to cut another 3,500 jobs globally


29 Sep 2011

Nokia president and CEO Stephen Elop

Nokia has today said it will be cutting a further 3,500 jobs from its global workforce by the end of 2012.

In April, the company announced it was cutting 7,000 jobs, including transferring 3,000 employees to Accenture.

Nokia said today’s personnel reductions are in addition to the measures announced in April and are expected to take effect by the end of 2012.

The company will close its manufacturing facility in Cluj, Romania, by the end of 2011, moving production to its high-volume Asian factories, which it said provide greater scale and proximity benefits.

It said it will also review the long-term role of its manufacturing operations in Salo (Finland), Komarom (Hungary) and Reynosa (Mexico). “These factories are expected to continue to play a key role in serving European and North American smartphone customers, but the plan is to gradually shift their focus to customer and market-specific software and sales package customisation,” said the company in a statement.

Nokia said it expects job numbers to be affected in these sites next year and will have a better idea of the “possible headcount impacts in the first quarter of 2012”.

The company also said it plans to focus its location and commerce development efforts in Berlin, Boston, Chicago and other supporting sites, and to close its operations in Bonn and Malvern (US).

The planned closure of the Cluj factory together with adjustments to supply chain operations is expected to result in 2,200 job cuts, while the changes in the location and commerce business will affect around 1,300 employees.

“We are seeing solid progress against our strategy, and with these planned changes we will emerge as a more dynamic, nimble and efficient challenger,” said Stephen Elop, Nokia president and CEO.

“We must take painful, yet necessary, steps to align our workforce and operations with our path forward.”

Article courtesy of Businessandleadership.com