14 DAY TRIAL // Nokia is slashing more jobs. The Espoo-based company has just announced plans to make a series of changes at its factories in Komarom, Hungary, Reynosa, Mexico and Salo, Finland.
The handset vendor also confirmed that these changes were bound to affect around 4,000 jobs across the company.
The company will make these staff reductions throughout the year, and will complete them before 2012 is over. A comprehensive locally tailored support program will be offered, with financial support and assistance with local re-employment included.
The new changes follow a review of smartphone manufacturing operations at Nokia and are expected to offer the company the possibility to increase its competitiveness in the diverse global mobile device market.
Following the announced changes, the three factories will be focused on smartphone product customization. Products designed here will be delivered to the market in Europe and the Americas.
The company also announced that it would transfer device assembly to Nokia factories in Asia. This change has also been determined by the fact that the majority of component suppliers are based on this continent.
“With the planned changes, our factories at Komarom, Reynosa and Salo will continue to play an important role serving our smartphone customers,” said Niklas Savander, Nokia executive vice president, Markets.
“They give us a unique ability to both provide customization and be more responsive to customer needs.
“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.”
As part of these changes, the Komarom, Reynosa and Salo factories will benefit from a decreased number of steps in manufacturing. The amount of work carried out at these sites will also be reduced significantly.
“We recognize the planned changes are difficult for our employees and we are committed to supporting our personnel and their local communities during the transition,” Savander also said.
Last year, the company announced a transition to Microsoft's Windows Phone, and diverted around 3,000 employees to Accenture, while giving the pink slip to 4,000 more.