Nokia Siemens slashes nearly 6,000 jobs

Job cuts

Nokia Siemens Networks plans to cut as many 5,760 jobs in an effort to reduce costs and "return to growth."

A statement on the company's website confirmed that it was looking to cut operating expenses and production overheads by 500 million (449 million) by the end of 2011.

This will include between seven and nine per cent of its 64,000 strong global workforce losing their jobs.

Ben Roome, head of media relations at Nokia Siemens Networks told IT PRO: "The industry has changed... and we have been restructuring since we formed."

"Unfortunately in the third quarter we knew we would have to look at our cost base [and] need to change to reflect our revenues," he added.

The main focus of the company's statement is a change to its business model, aligning its previous five business units into three as of January 2010.

It also said that the company was looking to "further strengthen its business through partnerships and acquisitions."

Nokia recently wrote off 908 million in an "impairment of goodwill" for Nokia Siemens Networks after poor results in its third quarter.

Nokia's chief executive, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, said in a statement: "The challenging competitive factors and market conditions in the infrastructure and related services business necessitated non-cash impairment charges at Nokia Siemens Networks."

"We continue to support Nokia Siemens Networks actions to improve its performance," he added.

Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.