ノキアはフランスの仕事をカットします
ノキアは本日、フランスで1,233人の雇用を削減する計画であり、アルカテルルーセントの子会社での研究開発ポジションに大きな影響を与えていることを確認しました。Nokia today confirmed that it plans to cut 1,233 jobs in France, largely impacting research and development positions at its Alcatel-Lucent subsidiary.
Nokia has been slashing jobs amid a global cost savings program originally announced in late 2018. “Nokia is reinforcing its efforts and has earlier launched a global evaluation of its [research and development] operation that has led to significant adjustments globally,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
The Finnish vendor, which is trying to cut $556 million in costs by the end of 2020, announced plans to cut about 180 jobs in its home country at the beginning of the year and hinted at more to come.
Nokia is battling challenges on multiple fronts, including a high-cost 5G product portfolio that has impacted profits and weakened its position against market leaders Huawei and Ericsson. There was also a $200 million decline in revenue during the first quarter of 2020 due to supply chain disruptions, and a reportedly hostile takeover bid.
The company has said its new series of radios and software for 5G networks is gaining momentum, but the radio access network (RAN) gear that features a new system-on-a-chip (SoC) comprised just 17% of its 5G shipments during Q1. That gear won’t represent the entirety of 5G shipments until the end of 2022.
Pressure from these struggles eventually reached top leadership at the company, resulting in the departure of former Chairman Risto Siilasmaa and CEO Rajeev Suri who will leave his position on Aug. 31.
The job cuts at Alcatel-Lucent, a France-based company that was formed in 2006 by the merger of Alcatel and Lucent, and subsequently acquired by Nokia in 2016, will hit roughly one-third of its workforce. Nokia’s others affiliate companies in France — Radio Frequency Systems, Nokia Bell Labs France, and Alcatel Submarine Networks — are not impacted by these cuts, a company spokesperson said.
When Nokia acquired Alcatel-Lucent it made a pledge to preserve jobs and expand research and development work in France to gain regulatory approval, but the company was freed of those commitments earlier this month, according to Reuters, which first reported the news.
A Nokia spokesperson noted that the planned cuts are still subject to consultations with the employees’ union and government regulators, and a French finance minister already told Reuters that significant improvements will have to be made to the current plan.
Nokia said it had 70 5G commercial deals and 21 live 5G networks as of April 30.
