Nokia cuts 4,000 jobs in Europe as it shifts manufacturing to Asia

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Nokia cuts 4,000 jobs in Europe as it shifts manufacturing to Asia
Nokia has just announced one of the biggest job cuts in its restructuring efforts slashing 4,000 positions in Finland, Hungary and Mexico in order to get closer to its Asian suppliers and optimize delivery times and cost.

Handset manufacturing will shift to Asia, closer to component suppliers, which makes financial sense. Factories like the one in Salo, Finland and Komarom, Hungary, traditionally responsible for making high-end smartphones for the European market, will now shift their focus on product customization for Europe and America. 

The company will start the job cuts now and is expected to continue “optimizing workforce” by the end of the year.

The company doesn’t quote financials as the main reason for the shift, rather focusing on component suppliers and most important the time it takes a device to reach markets. With the move to Asia Nokia phones should start arriving on shelves faster and that aligns with Nokia’s chief executive plans to speed up deliveries.

“Shifting device assembly to Asia is targeted at improving our time to market. By working more closely with our suppliers, we believe that we will be able to introduce innovations into the market more quickly and ultimately be more competitive,” said Niklas Savander, Nokia executive VP of Markets.

Nokia closed down its factory in Romania last September, and after that it has also been reevaluating its factories in Finland, Hungary and Mexico. Initially, Nokia tried to not cut the meat so close to the bone, but this time it’s axing jobs in its homeland of Finland as well.

source: Nokia


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