Nokia to axe up to 14,000 jobs to cut costs

I can't be the only one that's surprised that Nokia still has 86000 employees. It makes me wonder what they all do.

For people who are unaware Nokia is working on Mobile Networks (5G Base stations etc), Network Infrastructure, Cloud Networking etc.<p>As for this move, from what I have heard from my friends working there it has been strange ongoings in Nokia. Earlier in the year people were being let go. There were hiring and travel freeze. All the while there was a costly rebranding exercise with new logo goodies being distributed to the employees. It made absolutely no sense to celebrate a rebrand while firing people.<p>As the article notes, words like cloud computing and AI are being thrown around. But many feel that the management has proven itself to be rather short sighted because there has been constant shifts in strategy - changing the business structure nearly every year to the rebranding just 2 Quarters ago.

Completely forgot that they now own Bell Labs.<p>I wonder what Nokia have as a core revenue stream these days? They really dropped the ball when the iPhone &amp; Android came to market (and to a lesser extent, the Blackberry).<p>Guess they&#x27;re still making a killing on telco hardware&#x2F;software&#x2F;infrastructure.

A year before the first iPhone was released, I told Nokia they needed to take their N700 Internet Tablet, add voice calling and text messaging, and offer it in many screen sizes like 3&quot;, 4&quot;, 5&quot;, 6&quot;, and 7&quot;.<p>If they had followed my advice instead of laughing at me they would still be the largest cell phone maker on planet Earth.

Off-topic but a series about the fall of Nokia aired in Finnish TV recently: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.imdb.com&#x2F;title&#x2F;tt14956742&#x2F;" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.imdb.com&#x2F;title&#x2F;tt14956742&#x2F;</a>

When I was looking for a 5G router Nokia&#x27;s FastMile product came up, but when looking for pricing info it had none. Not even any info on where you can get one (unlocked, not from a Mobile Network)<p>So I bought a Huawei one from Amazon.

Is this the normal course of things?<p>&quot;We are now beginning the process of consultation on initial reductions.&quot;<p>I&#x27;m not in the know.. but it comes off as if they have no idea what they&#x27;re doing. You&#x27;d think you&#x27;d decide who you are gunna lay off before announcing it..? And they will be laying people off for two years straight? Seems like it&#x27;d just tank the moral of the whole place.<p>I thought companies generally rip the bandaid off and do it all very quickly - and have a concrete plan before an announcement

Earlier this year, Nokia changes iconic logo to signal strategy shift: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.thestar.com.my&#x2F;tech&#x2F;tech-news&#x2F;2023&#x2F;02&#x2F;26&#x2F;nokia-changes-iconic-logo-to-signal-strategy-shift" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.thestar.com.my&#x2F;tech&#x2F;tech-news&#x2F;2023&#x2F;02&#x2F;26&#x2F;nokia-c...</a>

Discussed here as well: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=37942403">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=37942403</a>

Probably means that folks in Finnish, German, and US offices are out, and in Romanian and Polish offices will receive no rises of their already meager salaries.

Is this like the delayed echo of the US tech redundancy wave (Europe always operates with a phase difference - maybe its the time it takes for management consultancy powerpoints to cross the Atlantic) or is it something more specific?

Mmm let me guess. McKinsey came to town?

I don&#x27;t want to be insensitive, but I&#x27;m surprised Nokia still exists.

Nokia’s been a zombie corporation for a long time. This isn’t news… this was a scheduled calendar event from at least as far back as 2007.

Today they have 86000 employees so the reduction is about 16% of the total work force.<p>It&#x27;s not nothing but I wonder where and what types of work gets cut first. Usually it&#x27;s not people producing stuff like programmers but roles that companies in times of trouble realize they can be without.