Nokia raises job cuts to 1,700 amid falling sales
updated 04:45 pm EDT, Tue March 17, 2009
More job cuts at Nokia
Nokia, the world's biggest phone maker, on Tuesday announced it will be eliminating more jobs across its worldwide operations as its market share and profits are on the decline, with total cuts now totaling 1,700, or significantly more than announced back in February. The company is saying the cuts are necessary due to the current market conditions as well as to increase cost efficiency. The new cuts will come from the company's Devices and Markets units, the Corporate Development Office and global support functions.
Without being specific, the Finnish company said it would also slash jobs in its Devices R&D organization and has said it will leave no department alone as it seeks to become more efficient across the board. About 700 jobs are expected to be eliminated from the company's home country of Finland.
The cuts are likely encouraged by Nokia's last announced quarterly results for the end of 2008 that revealed its sales have shrunk by 19.4 percent compared to the same time period in 2007, while smartphone market share is at 31.5 percent, down from 35 percent in the summer and 46.9 percent during last year's quarter.
The company first announced some 450 job cuts back in November, in a rare move for the giant. At the end of 2008, Nokia employed 128,445 workers worldwide.
