Nokia moves to cut jobs following Alcatel-Lucent merger

HELSINKI, Finland – Finnish telecom equipment giant Nokia said on Wednesday, April 6, it was opening talks with staff representatives in some 30 countries about cutting jobs to save money following its merger with Alcatel-Lucent.

Some 1,300 jobs are to go in Finland, 20% of its workforce there, but Nokia gave no figures for the rest of the world.

French labor unions said in a statement that Nokia was seeking 4,300 job cuts in Europe, including 411 in France. 

“The headcount reductions are expected to take place between now and the end of 2018,” Nokia said in a statement.

“Reductions will come largely in areas where there are overlaps, such as research and development, regional and sales organizations, as well as corporate functions,” it said.

Nokia is targeting 900 million euros ($1.02 billion) of savings per year starting in 2018.

“When we announced the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent we made a commitment to deliver EUR 900 million in synergies – and that commitment has not changed,” chief executive Rajeev Suri said in the statement.

Nokia has just gone through two and half years of radical transformation. In 2013 it bought 50% of its network activities from Germany’s Siemens, in 2014 it divested its mobile phone business where it had been the world’s number one brand, and in 2015 it sold its mapping unit Here and took control of Alcatel-Lucent.

In 2015, Nokia’s net profit fell by 29% to 2.45 billion euros ($2.8 billion), it reported in February. – Rappler.com