Nokia, the Finnish phone vendor, is offering voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to 6,600 employees at its manufacturing plant in Chennai, India.
Though the company is yet to set a target in terms of the number of employees, Nokia said it is ready to offer VRS to all its 6,600 fulltime employees.
The Chennai factory is at the centre of a tax dispute. Nokia took the decision to offer VRS after a review of the regulatory environment in countries where it operates, Reuters reported.
Nokia planned to transfer the plant to IT major Microsoft as part of the $7.5 billion sale of its handset division, but the local tax office seized it last year.
A court later ordered Nokia give the tax office a $582.17 million guarantee before transferring the plant to Microsoft. Nokia has yet to agree, the report said.
Nokia on Friday said, without referring to the dispute, that it launched a VRS after a review in which it considered the predictability and stability of the regulatory environment in countries where it operates.
The Chennai plant is one of the largest manufacturing plants for Nokia.
Recently, Nokia received approval from Chinese government authorities to sell its phones business to Microsoft.
Nokia is expected to complete the sale of its phone business to Microsoft this month.
