Nokia Slashing Workforce Following Alcatel-Lucent Acquisition

Nokia said it will cut thousands of jobs worldwide between now and the end of 2018, tied to its recent buy of Alcatel-Lucent. Nokia said it previously indicated it anticipates cutting just over $1 billion in operating costs in 2018. “Nokia is taking steps to adapt to challenging market conditions and to shift resources to future-oriented technologies such as 5G, the Cloud and the Internet of Things,” it said in a Wednesday news release. “As part of the program, the company also continues to target worldwide savings in real estate, services, procurement, supply chain and manufacturing.” Workforce reductions will come largely in areas where there are overlaps, including R&D and sales, Nokia said. Company representatives met Wednesday with two European Works Councils to discuss the job cuts, with similar meetings planned in almost 30 countries in future weeks, the manufacturer said. The actions are "designed to ensure that Nokia remains a strong industry leader," said Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri. "We also know that our actions will have real human consequences and, given this, we will proceed in a way that is consistent with our company values and provide transition and other support to the impacted employees." Nokia plans to cut 1,300 jobs at its Finnish bases in Espoo, Oulu and Tampere and 1,400 of its 4,800 jobs in Germany, said an article in the Wall Street Journal. Nokia plans to keep 4,200 workers in place in France for at least two years in keeping with promises to the French government to win approval of the Alcatel-Lucent acquisition. Nokia has 104,000 employees worldwide.