Nokia slashes 7,000 jobs in major strategy shift

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110427/D9MS43F03.html

By MATTI HUUHTANEN

HELSINKI (AP) - Nokia Corp. said Wednesday it will slash 7,000 jobs worldwide, through both layoffs and outsourcing, as it strives to cut costs and catch up with its top rivals in the smartphone market.

Most of the 4,000 layoffs, due by the end of 2012, will be in Denmark, Finland and Britain, Nokia said.

It also plans to transfer 3,000 workers in China, Finland, India, Britain and the United States to Accenture PLC (ACN) as it outsources Symbian platform operations to the global management-consulting firm, in a major shift of strategy.


Managing Director Stephen Elop of mobile phone giant Nokia speaks at a a press conference at the headquarters of in Espoo Finland Wednesday April 27, 2011. Nokia Corp. said Wednesday that it will lay off 4,000 people worldwide by the end of 2012 as it strives to cut costs amid stiff competition from top smartphone rivals. Most of the job cuts will be in Denmark, Finland and Britain, the company said, adding that talks with employees had already begun(AP Photo/Lehtikuva, Martti Kainulainen) FINLAND OUT NO SALES


Nokia stock closed up more than 3 percent at euro6.15 ($8.99) on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.

The announcements came as the world's top cellphone maker seeks to cut operating expenses by euro1 billion ($1.5 billion) by 2013 amid fierce competition that has seen its market share plunge and profits plummet.

Markets had been eagerly expecting signals about company policy from the new CEO, Stephen Elop, since he took over in September. Even more they awaited word on strategy decisions since the Feb. 11 announcement that Nokia and Microsoft Corp. were teaming up to challenge rivals such as Research in Motion, Apple Inc. and Google Inc.

FULL story at link.

[aquart]

1. Yeah, my BIL got caught in that.

[Tesha]

2. The group that Mr. Tesha left last summer was 100% affected by this.

*EVERYONE* in the group has until the end of 2011 to either:

o Convince Accenture to take them on as part of the
3,000 that will be outsourced to Accenture (somewhere,
location(s) besides India not yet having been announced)
to support Symbian,

o Find another job within Nokia, or

o Be part of the 4,000 that will be laid-off from Nokia.

There's some chance they'll actually find a berth at
Accenture, but that's really only a temporary gig.
The Symbian mobile phone software is a dead man
walking right now and will be really most sincerely
dead within about 18 months. At that point, everyone
who went to Accenture will either have to have tran-
sitioned to something else or again face lay-off,
this time from Accenture instead of directly from
Nokia.

Their finding another job at Nokia is extremely
unlikely. With 4,000 people being laid-off around
the world, many of them far closer to the PowerPoint
Palace in Espoo, Finland than these folks, his
Burlington Massachusetts-based former associates
are unlikely to find a new job "on the inside".

So most of them are headed for the axe.

Mr. Tesha saw the handwriting on the wall from the
day he hired on to Nokia, but finally decided last
summer that the excrement was actually flying towards
the ventilator. At that point, he rather-regretfully
walked away from Nokia of his own will.

The Nokians being laid-off in Finland (and Copenhagen,
DK) are much luckier than many Nokians around the
world (including those here in Burlington, MA and
White Plains, NY). The Finns still have a strong
social support net so no one will go without food,
housing, or health care. Not so true here, though
Nokia *IS* going to pay everyone through 2011, a
far better deal than most Americans get when they're
made redundant.

Tesha