Image: Jussi Nukari / Lehtikuva

Nokia called together staff from its Networks division in Finland on Thursday to announce redundancy talks expected to lead to the loss of around 350 jobs.



The plans affect all Networks business groups and support functions at all of the company’s offices in Finland – but not its remaining factory in Oulu.

The Nokia Technologies group is also launching layoff negotiations, likely to result in about 75 further redundancies.

“The planned measures are essential to ensure Nokia’s long-term competitiveness,” Nokia’s Country Senior Officer Tommi Uitto said in a statement, adding that “market conditions were challenging last year and the market is expected to further shrink this year”.

Both tracks of negotiations are to begin next Tuesday. Nokia now has some 6,300 employees in Finland and nearly 103,000 worldwide.

Health ventures to be reconsidered

The redundancies are part of a cost-cutting and synergies plan unveiled after Nokia took over rival Alcatel-Lucent in 2016. It aims to lower operating costs by 1.2 billion euros annually by the end of this year.

Nokia has also says it has begun “a strategic review” of its digital health business, which it entered in 2016 with a buyout of French firm Withings, which makes activity trackers and thermometers.