Nokia To Cut 260 Jobs In Finland
OCTOBER 1, 2001
HELSINKI, Finland (AP) _ Nokia, the world's biggest cell phone maker, plans to
cut 260 jobs at its plant in Salo, or about 5 percent of the work force at the
facility in southern Finland, to improve efficiency and competitiveness.
The company will begin negotiations with labor representatives soon and expects
the layoffs to be completed by the middle of next year, Nokia said Monday. It
employs 5,200 people in Salo. No other details were given.
In June, Nokia said it is cutting 1,000 jobs in its network operations worldwide,
which employ 23,000 people, and a further 300 jobs at a phone production plant
in Bochum, Germany.
Until recently, Nokia had maintained optimism amid an industry slowdown and
largely had avoided the layoffs and losses of its chief rivals, LM Ericsson of
Sweden and No. 2 mobile phone maker, U.S.-based Motorola. But the
Finland-based company is feeling the downturn in the U.S. and global economies
and has predicted that revenues will be down 5 percent in the third quarter
compared with last year.
It also said that handset sales from July through September will be at about the
same level as during that period in 2000. Last year, Nokia sold 128 million
handsets, 64 percent more than in 1999. Nokia has sales in 130 countries with
some 59,000 employees.
The Asians Are Coming........... |
