Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Mobile telephone manufacturer Nokia plans to cut 700 jobs in Finland. Most of the redundancies will take place by the end of the year. The international economic crisis has reduced sales of telephones so much that the company's personnel director Juha Äkräs feels that cost-cutting measures are needed both in Finland and abroad. The company foresees a reduction in sales equivalent to more than 100 million handsets. In Finland the cuts will mainly apply to white collar workers in product development. Jobs will also be trimmed from product management in the mobile phone unit, purchases, and business support operations.
"The reductions will apply to all communities: the Helsinki region, Salo, Tampere, and Oulu". No jobs are to be cut at the factory in Salo; temporary layoffs of five weeks will be enough to adapt the facility to reduced demand. Äkräs is unable to say anything about possible further job cuts. "We have not made cuts country by country, but rather according to our activities. All of our operations are global and exactly how they affect different countries will be seen when we have made detailed plans", He says.
Trimming product development activities in Finland was not unexpected. Nokia Research and Development employs 14,700 people worldwide, 8,850 of whom are working in Finland. Nokia hopes to find as many new jobs as possible for those losing their positions inside the company but is not optimistic given the current economic situation. Those facing redundancy are entitled to a severance package worth 5-15 months' pay, depending on how long they have been employed with the company.
Eurofound (2009), Nokia, Internal restructuring in Finland, factsheet number 68557, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/68557.