Nokia has announced new plans to ‘align its workforce and operations’ that’ll see reductions in manufacturing, its Location & Commerce business and supporting functions.
Feature phone manufacturing will be focussed on locations that are closest to suppliers and key markets, with Nokia’s manufacturing facility in Cluj (Romania) closing by the end of this year. Manufacturing operations in Salo (Finland), Komarom (Hungary) and Reynosa (Mexico) are also likely to be affected, with these three sites likely to reduce the number of personnel next year.
The previously-announced plans to create a Location & Commerce business that combines NAVTEQ and Nokia’s social location services operations will now result in the closure of operations in Bonn (Germany) and Malvern (USA).
The planned closure of the Cluj factory is estimated to affect approximately 2,200 employees, while the planned Location & Commerce changes are expected to affect around 1,300 employees. These reductions are in addition to the measures announced in April, when Nokia announced plans to transfer about 3,000 employees to Accenture and to reduce its global workforce by about 4,000 employees by the end of 2012.
Stephen Elop, Nokia President and CEO, said “We are seeing solid progress against our strategy, and with these planned changes we will emerge as a more dynamic, nimble and efficient challenger. We must take painful, yet necessary, steps to align our workforce and operations with our path forward. Europe is core to Nokia's future. In addition to our headquarters, we have a strong R&D presence in Europe. We have four major R&D sites in Finland and two major R&D sites in Germany, as well as Nokia Research Centers and other supporting R&D sites in Europe. Nokia also retains a strong local presence in our many sales offices throughout this region, as well as our operations in Salo and Komarom.”