#Nokia plans to cut 597 jobs in France by end 2019; Unions strongly against *Updated*
With the acquisition of anglo-franco company Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia literally doubled its workforce and announced a €1.2 billion cost savings plan. A part of the plan, are of course layoffs. The Franch government and the unions played a strong role in negotiating the sales of Alcatel, and till today, not one Franch worker lost its position, as far as I know, but that could relatively soon change.
Nokia announced that it could cut 597 jobs in France by the end of 2019. No R&D will be affected, and, at the moment, Nokia employees 4,200 people in France. It’s interesting that the date of the layoffs is announced practically 2 years in advance. Nokia knows that before job cuts in France, they have to face tough negotiations with Franch CFDT, CFE-CGC, CGT, and CFTC unions.
Nokia is also eyeing to sell the Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks division it owns, for an alleged price of €800 million. The process of selling this unit is complicated, because the ASN is a strategic company in France.
Source: Reuters
Update: After a huge backlash from the unions and government, Nokia decided to postpone the decision until an agreement could be made with the involved parties. The next meeting is scheduled for October 2nd. More details here.
