According to Reuters, two sources familiar with the matter revealed that Nokia has recently cut nearly 2,000 employees in the Greater China region, which accounts for about one-fifth of its total workforce. In a cost-cutting move, the company also plans to eliminate 350 more positions in Europe.
A Nokia spokesperson confirmed that the company has begun consultations on cutting 350 jobs in Europe, but declined to comment on the situation in the Greater China region.
As of December 2023, Nokia had 10,400 employees in the Greater China region and 37,400 in Europe.
The company introduced a cost-saving plan last year to reduce up to 14,000 positions by 2026, aiming to save between 800 million euros (about 868 million dollars) to 1.2 billion euros (about 1.3 billion dollars).
Sources indicated that the layoffs in China and Europe are part of the redundancy plan announced last year.
Earlier on Thursday, Nokia announced a 9% increase in operating profit for the third quarter, primarily attributed to cost reductions. However, net sales dropped by 8%, falling short of expectations and causing a 4% decrease in stock price. The company attributed the decline in business performance to a slowdown in its operations in India.
A spokesperson mentioned that the company has achieved an overall cost savings plan of 500 million euros.
Nokia’s CEO, Pekka Lundmark, stated during a conference call with reporters, “Our cost reductions will not come at the expense of sacrificing research and development output. I am pleased with the progress of cost reduction. In fact, we are ahead of schedule.”
When Nokia announced the job cuts, the total number of employees was around 86,000, with plans to reduce the workforce to 72,000 to 77,000 by 2026.
Currently, Nokia has slightly over 78,500 employees, according to the spokesperson.
Nokia is headquartered in Espoo, Finland. The company was once a leader in the mobile phone market, with a market value close to 250 billion USD during its heyday in 2000, second only to McDonald’s and Coca-Cola.
Last year, Nokia’s Swedish competitor, Ericsson, also disclosed plans to cut 8,500 jobs globally. The supplier stated that the job cut plan is part of its cost-cutting measures.