Nokia announces 10,000 more job cuts as fortunes worsen

FINNISH PHONE MAKER Nokia has announced plans to cut another 10,000 jobs worldwide, as its second quarter losses look worse than expected.

Today's announcement that it will shed 10,000 jobs by the end of next year sees the total planned job cuts since Stephen Elop took over in 2010 rise to more than 40,000, as the firm continues to struggle in the smartphone market. Related to the job cuts, the firm announced it will book additional restructuring charges of around €1bn by the end of 2013.

Nokia also announced that executives Jerri DeVard, Mary McDowell and Niklas Savander will leave the company effective 1 July.

"These planned reductions are a difficult consequence of the intended actions we believe we must take to ensure Nokia's long-term competitive strength," Elop said.

"We intend to pursue an even more focused effort on Lumia, continued innovation around our feature phones, while placing increased emphasis on our location-based services."

Gartner consumer device analyst Carolina Milanesi commented on Nokia's planned job cuts and staffing shuffle, and seemed to remain positive about the company's future. She said, "Nokia continues its mutation into a slender more agile company by focusing on opportunities to differentiate such as imaging and maps."

"In Nokia's management reshuffle it's great to see Chris Weber as VP of Sales & Marketing. Chris has done a great job in the US with Lumia. Mary McDowell is responsible for Nokia Asha - a great addition to Mobile Phones. Shame to see her go but Timo Toikkanen has solid background."

To pull in some cash, Nokia also announced that private equity firm EQT VI has acquired its luxury Vertu phone division, although it didn't disclose the amount paid.

Nokia was unavailable for comment at the time of writing. µ