Nokia Bochum factory shuts down

Talks on repayment of state subsidies remain open

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The last mobile telephones to be manufactured at the Nokia factory in the German city of Bochum were completed on Friday. The factory officially closes by the end of June, but production concluded already last week.
      On Friday most of the factory’s 2,300 employees received an official notice of termination, and they are not expected at work from Monday.
     
Nokia said that about 150 employees would remain at the factory to deal with clearing out the building, dismantling the machinery, and similar activities.
      Nokia made the announcement of the impending closure of the factory in mid-January, in a move prompted by excessive labour costs. The announcement led to a wave of protest against Nokia in Germany, with top politicians condemning the move, including Chancellor Angela Merkel.
      Production has been transferred to the Nokia plant in Komárom in Hungary, as well as a brand-new production facility in Cluj, Romania.
      Nokia says that the closure of Bochum took place in a controlled manner, and the desired mobile phone manufacturing capacity has come from other plants. The Cluj plant is not yet operating at full capacity, Nokia says.
     
The closure of the Bochum plant proved expensive for Nokia, which now has to pay out EUR 185 million in severance pay alone. In addition, EUR 15 million will be needed to run a training centre, or so-called transfer company, for the employees losing their jobs.
      The centre is to employ and train employees for up to a year as of early July.
      According to shop stewards at the Bochum plant, about 200 of the 2,300 employees have found new jobs. Highly-trained experts are the easiest to re-employ. Some got jobs at a product development unit of the Canadian mobile communications company RIM, which was set up in Bochum.
     
Nokia’s negotiations with the state of North-Rhine Westphalia on the repayment of industrial subsidies are dragging on, although both sides say that the talks are proceeding in a positive spirit.
      There were reports in the German media recently that Nokia would pay EUR 30 million into a foundation that would be used for handing out start-up subsidies for new communications companies.
      Nokia denied the report, calling it premature.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  German media reports impending settlement in Nokia-Bochum dispute (28.4.2008)
  Nokia offers Bochum workers massive social package (9.4.2008)
  Merkel: Germany unlikely to demand that Nokia pay back R&D investment subsidies (19.2.2008)
  Nokia shutting down plant in Germany, moving manufacture to Romania (16.1.2008)

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