At Nokia: Hefty layoffs, facilities to close, changes in leadership
Finnish phone maker Nokia announced Thursday that it plans to restructure itself and cut 10,000 jobs by the end of 2013.
The company announced the cuts as well as the closing of several facilities, shifts in senior leadership, a lowering of its second-quarter expectations and the acquisition of another company.
The layoffs are the company’s latest since announcing last year that it was cutting 14,000 jobs. Nokia said making the cuts and the restructuring will cost it about $1.2 billion but will reduce costs by about $2 billion by next year.
Along with the job cuts, Nokia said it will shut down research and development facilities in Ulm, Germany, and Burnaby, Canada, as well as a manufacturing facility in Salo, Finland.
“These planned reductions are a difficult consequence of the intended actions we believe we must take to ensure Nokia’s long-term competitive strength,” said Chief Executive Stephen Elop. “We do not make plans that may impact our employees lightly, and as a company we will work tirelessly to ensure that those at risk are offered the support, options and advice necessary to find new opportunities.”
Nokia also announced that Jerri DeVard, chief marketing officer, Mary McDoweel, executive vice president of mobile phones, and Niklas Savander, executive vice president of markets, were all stepping down.
Additions to Nokia’s senior leadership include Juha Putkiranta as executive vice president of operations, Timo Toikkanen as executive vice president of mobile phones and Chris Weber as executive vice president of sales and marketing.
Also announced were Tuula Rytila as senior vice president of marketing and chief marketing officer and Susan Sheehan as senior vice president of communications.
Nokia also said it now expects a higher second-quarter loss than it previously did.
Among the bits of good news was the company’s acquisition of Scalado AB, a mobile image company. Nokia said it acquired the company to beef up its “imaging experience” for its line of Lumia devices.
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