Nokia Siemens Networks has announced the company plans to cut some 17,000 jobs—about 23 percent of its global workforce—by the end of 2103 in a move to cut the company’s expenses by more than €1 billion (about US$1.35 billion). Although the company hasn’t released many details of its plan, it says in addition to job cuts, it will beging to outsource services and undergo a “significant reduction” of suppliers in order to reduce costs, while reducing its focus to emphasize mobile broadband technologies
“We believe that the future of our industry is in mobile broadband and services—and we aim to be an undisputed leader in these areas,” said Nokia-Siemens CEO Rajeev Suri, in a statement. “At the same time, we need to take the necessary steps to maintain long term competitiveness and improve profitability in a challenging telecommunications market.”
Nokia-Siemens currently has about 74,000 employees in 150 countries.
The 50-50 joint venture between Finland’s Nokia and Germany’s Siemens was formed in 2006, and is the world’s second-largest maker of mobile infrastructure gear: they don’t make phones, but they make the gear that goes into cell towers and signal processing, in addition to network backhauls, emergency services gear, and serious networking infrastructure. The company also provides a wide selection of consulting and managed services. However, instead of turning into a cash-generating juggernaut, Nokia-Siemens has struggled to generate profits, particular in the wake of the global economic downturn. Nokia-Siemens is also seeing fierce competition from Asian rivals like ZTE and Huawei, which have flooded the market with less expensive gear.
