ESPOO, Finland-Nokia Corp. announced a workforce reorganization that will affect almost 300 total employees in its infrastructure and enterprise businesses. The company said the reorganization is due to increasing technological complexity, growth in emerging markets and the need for local customization and support.
In its Networks Business Group, Nokia said it plans to reduce its research and development efforts in Finland and expand R&D spending in emerging markets where the company expects infrastructure demands to grow more quickly.
“Over the course of 2006, our expectation is that some 200 people in Networks will need to be redeployed due to workforce balancing,” said Juha Akras, vice president of Global Operational Human Resources for Nokia. “Based on Nokia’s overall recruitment activity, our track record of redeployment, and our estimates for this year, we are optimistic that new positions will be found for most of these people. During this process, we will be working closely with employees and their representatives to find the best solutions.”
However, Nokia sought to downplay the changes.
“Finland is the key competence center for Networks’ R&D, and will play a pivotal role thanks to its unique, cumulative know-how and innovation strength,” Akras said.
Akras added that other units in the company plan to add research and development staff in Finland this year.
In addition, Nokia said its Enterprise Solutions Group plans to reduce resources in Finland. Nokia said the changes would affect around 90 workers.
Nokia said it will introduce voluntary severance packages, and noted that redeployments within the company may be possible for some employees.
Also, Nokia said its refocus is expected to impact some other units within the company including financial service functions.
At the end of last year, Nokia employed 58,874 people globally, of which 23,485 worked in Finland. There were 13,237 R&D personnel in Finland at the end of last year.
