Nokia may lay off nearly 1,500 employees in India

Nokia plans to lay off about 1,500 of its employees in India in a bid to restructure its global cost plans.

Over the next 18 to 24 months it plans to lay off 10,000 of its employees worldwide for the same.

The Finnish giant is reportedly aiming to give up so many of its employees in order to invest more in research capabilities and give tougher competition to its rival Ericsson, whilst trying to catch up in the 5G world.

“Decisions that may have a potential impact on our employees are never taken lightly,” Chief Executive Pekka Lundmark, as per Business Today.

“My priority is to ensure that everyone impacted is supported through this process.”

Nokia has 20,511 employees in the Asia-Pacific region, and the company’s Indian employees have grown from just 3000 in 2007 to over 15,000.

India, a global hub of innovation in Nokia’s telecommunication services, has the company’s major presence in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Noida, and Chennai.

In Bengaluru, Nokia has about 6300 employees for researching technologies related to 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, small cells, and WiFi.

With regards to its impact on Indian operations, a spokesperson of the company said, “It is too early to comment in detail, but we expect the consultation processes to start shortly, where applicable.

Business groups are looking to reduce site fragmentation, but we have no further details at this point”, according to The Times of India.

The global layoffs are expected to cut Nokia’s cost base by 600 million euros in two years time. Its revenue forecast was also lowered from 21.9 billion euros in 2020 to 20.6-21.8 billion euros in 2021