Telecom network major Nokia is likely to reduce 10,000 to 15,000 jobs following its acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent, Reuters reported.
Nokia has nearly 104,000 employees around the globe including India and China.
Nokia aims to slash 900 million euros or $1 billion of operating costs by 2018. Job cut is one of the main options to cut the operating costs.
“We haven’t heard any official numbers, but based on the information from our union contacts, I would estimate the global impact of this round would likely be around 10,000 to 15,000 jobs,” said Risto Lehtilahti, a trade union shop steward at Nokia’s Oulu site.
A Nokia spokeswoman declined comment on the 10,000-15,000 figure.
Last week, Nokia said it would slash around 1,000 jobs in Finland, compared to an initial target of 1,300 jobs.
Nokia is looking to reduce 1,400 positions in Germany. In France, it would cut around 400 jobs but also create 500 research and development posts – in line with a pledge to the French government during the Alcatel negotiations.
The Nokia spokeswoman said the company didn’t have any updates for France or Germany, and declined to give details on other countries. Nokia is holding talks with employee representatives in about 30 countries.
The savings plan is partly due to tackle the weak network gear market. Nokia forecast earlier this month that its network sales would fall this year.
According to Communication Workers of America (CWA), Nokia already started to reduce U.S. jobs a year ago in preparation for their 15.6 billion euro merger.
“They have cut 500, cut our (unionised) workforce in half, and we hope that’s all that is going to be taken away,” said CWA representative Lisa Bolton.
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