Nokia to Lay Off 3,500 by End 2012

ForexTV NewsDesk   |  September 29 2011 3:58 EDT

ForexTV.com (New York) by Sterling Wong

Nokia announced Thursday that it will 3,500 jobs by the end of 2012, as part of a major restructuring effort.

The scheduled layoffs come on the heels of April’s reduction exercise, which saw the Finnish telecommunications company slash 4,000 jobs and transfer another 3,000 to consulting firm Accenture.

Some 2,200 of the labor force reduction will come from the closure of a manufacturing facility in Cluj, Romania, by the end of 2011.

Another 1,300 jobs will be cut when Nokia closes its location and commerce operations in Malvern, Ark., and Bonn, Germany, which comprised of the firm’s Navteq operations and social location services.

With the latest move, the world’s second-largest smartphone maker is expected to save 1 billion euros in operational expenses by 2013.

These cost cutting measures are part of an overall goal to pare down Nokia’s basic phones operations, as the company plans to shift its focus to the more lucrative smartphone market, where it has been outcompeted in recent years by rivals  like Apple and Research in Motion.

"We are seeing solid progress against our strategy, and with these planned changes we will emerge as a more dynamic, nimble and efficient challenger," said Nokia President and CEO Stephen Elop in a press release, according to CNN. "We must take painful, yet necessary, steps to align our workforce and operations with our path forward."

To boost its flagging smartphone fortunes, Nokia will set aside its own legacy Symbian operating system and embrace Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform. It is expected to release its first Windows Phone by the end of the year.

Forex research by ForexTV.com