Nokia to Start Job Cuts Following Alcatel-Lucent Deal

Finland's Nokia launched a job cutting programme on Wednesday following its acquisition of France's Alcatel-Lucent, but did not say how many positions it was planning to axe.

The company said it was sticking to its target for EUR 900 million ($1.02 billion) of operating cost synergies from the deal by 2018.

"At the same time, Nokia is taking steps to adapt to challenging market conditions and to shift resources to future-oriented technologies such as 5G, the Cloud and the Internet of Things. As part of the program, the company also continues to target worldwide savings in real estate, services, procurement, supply chain and manufacturing," Nokia said in a statement.

"The headcount reductions are expected to take place between now and the end of 2018, consistent with the company's synergy target timeline. Reductions will come largely in areas where there are overlaps, such as research and development, regional and sales organizations as well as corporate functions," statement elaborated, adding Nokia planned to report on the details alongside its quarterly earnings.

"These actions are designed to ensure that Nokia remains a strong industry leader," said Nokia President and CEO Rajeev Suri. "When we announced the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent we made a commitment to deliver EUR 900 million in synergies - and that commitment has not changed. We also know that our actions will have real human consequences and, given this, we will proceed in a way that that is consistent with our company values and provide transition and other support to the impacted employees."

Written with inputs from Reuters