14,000 employees of Nokia stare at prospective layoffs

14,000 employees in Nokia are likely to be laid off as part of measures for cost-base resetting. This is being done in light of their decreased profits in the third quarter of 2023. This would reduce the workforce by 10 to 16 percent. “We are accelerating our strategy execution by giving business groups more operational autonomy. We are also streamlining our operating model by embedding sales teams into the business groups and lastly, we are resetting our cost-base to protect profitability. We target between EUR 800 million and EUR 1200 million in cost savings by 2026. These actions keep us on track to deliver our long-term target comparable operating margin of at least 14% by 2026,” CEO of Nokia, Pekka Lundmark said in a statement.

The 5G equipment released by Nokia has been struggling in the markets. “Mobile Networks net sales declined 19% as we saw some moderation in the pace of 5G deployment in India which meant the growth there was no longer enough to offset the slowdown in North America,” the statement mentioned. 

For the year 2024, the cost saving plan is of 400 million euros although the company is hopeful that the fourth quarter would have brighter prospects for the company.