Nokia to axe over 100 of its multimedia staff in Finland

In January, dismissal estimate was 250

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Nokia is to cut 106 Finnish jobs in research and development in its Multimedia Business Group, according to a press release posted on the company's website.
      In January it was estimated that up to 250 workers might lose their jobs in Finland.
      The job cuts will have their greatest effect on Nokia's multimedia unit in Salo, where about fifty workers are likely to lose their jobs. Another location where around 30 dismissals are scheduled is in Oulu. The remainder of those who will have to go are in the Greater Helsinki area.
     
Nokia's Multimedia Business Group concentrates on research and development of game phones, camera phones, and PDA-type Communicators. In addition to Oulu and Salo, Nokia's domestic multimedia sector employs workers in the Helsinki region, Jyväskylä, and Tampere.
      In November Nokia announced that it planned to cut the R&D expenses in relation to total turnover. The announced dismissals are part of this plan.
     
In conjunction with large lay-offs, Finnish employers always carry out the statutory cooperation negotiations with personnel, the purpose of which is to seek alternatives to dismissal.
      According to Finnish law, such negotiations are to last a minimum of six weeks. On Tuesday, six weeks had elapsed from the moment Nokia first formally announced the impending dismissals. On Thursday, it was believed the end-figure would be in the region of 150, so Friday's news was welcome for some who have been spared.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Nokia employees stage walkout in Oulu to protest planned dismissals (18.1.2005)
  Nokia enacts hundreds of job cuts in research and development (12.1.2005)

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