Nokia Siemens to slash 17,000 jobs worldwide

The company will shift focus to mobile broadband and related services as it seeks to slash costs

Struggling network infrastructure vendor Nokia Siemens Networks is planning to cut 17,000 jobs worldwide, as it aims to cut €1 billion (US$1.35 billion) from its costs by the end of 2013, the company said Wednesday.

About 23 percent of the company's 74,000 employees will be laid off. The 4 1/2-year-old joint venture between Nokia and Siemens has been struggling to compete with Swedish Ericsson and Chinese vendor Huawei. Parent company Nokia's ongoing problems have made Nokia Siemens' situation even more difficult.

Going forward, the company will focus on mobile broadband and related services. Other areas like its wireline business will be sold or "managed for value," according to Nokia Siemens.

Besides savings from staff cuts, Nokia Siemens will also target areas such as real estate, information technology, product and service procurement costs, overall general and administrative expenses, and aim for a significant reduction of suppliers in order to further lower costs and improve quality, the company said.

Nokia Siemens will now begin talks with employee representatives in accordance with country-specific legal requirements.

(More to follow.)

More about: Ericsson, etwork, Huawei, Nokia, Siemens

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the Computerworld comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Coverage
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Tags: broadband, business issues, layoffs, networking, Nokia Siemens, Telecommunication
Whitepapers
All whitepapers
Sign up now to get free exclusive access to reports, research and invitation only events.
Featured Download
/downloads/product/19/avg-anti-virus-free-edition/

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition

Note: This review covers version 8.5 of the software. This software is now in version 9.0. Antivirus program AVG 8.5 Free offers solid features and ...

Computerworld newsletter

Join the most dedicated community for IT managers, leaders and professionals in Australia