Nokia To Cut 14,000 Jobs After Profit Drops Drastically

Finnish telecom gear group, Nokia, on Thursday, stated that it would reduce closely 14,000 jobs as part of a cost reduction plan after a plunge in third-quarter earnings.

The Finnish telecommunications giant said that it will reduce its cost base and increase operation efficiency to “address the challenging market environment.”

It added that the layoffs are expected to reduce the firm’s employees to 72,000, reducing costs by up to 1.2 billion euros ($1.14 billion) by 2026.

The substantial layoffs come after Nokia reported third-quarter net sales declined 20% year-on-year to 4.98 billion euros. Profit over the period plunged by 69% year-on-year to 133 million euros.

Nokia has been facing headwinds from a slowing global economy and from infrastructure spending reductions made by mobile operators.

Sales from Nokia’s biggest unit by revenue, its mobile networks business, dropped drastically 24% year-on-year to 2.16 billion euros, with operating profit for the division diving 64% year-on-year.