Nokia To Cut 14,000 Jobs Following Profit Plunge

Following a drop in third-quarter earnings, Nokia announced on Thursday that it would cut up to 14,000 jobs as part of a cost-cutting plan.

The Finnish telecommunications behemoth announced plans to reduce its cost base and increase operational efficiency in order to "address the challenging market environment."

It intends to reduce its gross cost base by between 800 million euros ($842.5 billion) and 1.2 billion euros by the end of 2026, beginning in 2023.

This will reduce the current workforce of 86,000 to between 72,000 and 77,000.

The massive layoffs come after Nokia reported a 20 per cent year-on-year drop in third-quarter net sales to 4.98 billion euros. Profit fell 69 per cent year on year to 133 million euros during the period. Sales from Nokia's largest revenue unit, mobile networks, fell 24 per cent year on year to 2.16 billion euros, with operating profit falling 64 per cent year on year.

Nokia stated that this was primarily due to declines in North America. The company also described sales volumes in key market India as "moderated," as 5G deployments "normalise."