Nokia, the manufacturer of equipment for telecommunications networks, is likely to cut 10 000-15 000 jobs worldwide as part of its cost reduction program after the acquisition of Franco-American rival Alcatel-Lucent (PA: ALUA), said the representative of the Finnish trade union.
Nokia has launched the program in April, intending to reduce operating costs by 900 million euro ($ 1 billion) by 2018, but the company has not yet reported how many jobs it plans to cut as a whole.
"We have not heard the official figures, but based on our information, I would estimate the global impact of this round of 10 000-15 000 job cuts," - said Risto Lehtilahti, the Nokia representative of union plant in Oulu.
The Nokia spokesman declined to comment on the data.
Nokia has about 104 000 employees worldwide. Last week, the company clarified its plans with respect to Finland, and said it would cut there about 1000 jobs compared to the original target - 1300.
Earlier, Nokia said it plans to cut about 1400 jobs in Germany. In France, it will cut approximately 400 jobs, but will also create 500 research positions in accordance with the promise to the French government during the negotiations for the purchase of Alcatel.
A company spokesman said that there no new information related to France or Germany, and refused to disclose the details of the other countries. Nokia is in talks with representatives of the employees in approximately 30 countries.
Lehtilahti fears that later Nokia will launch a new round of cuts.
In Finland, the company has cut thousands of employees over the past decade, as the rise of smartphone manufacturers eclipsed the business of mobile phone manufacturing that it once dominated. Subsequently, Nokia sold its mobile division to Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), which continued the job cuts in the country.
Moreover, Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) said on Wednesday it would reduce its unit for the production of smartphones, dismissing 1850 employees, most of them - in Finland, and will write off in connection with it $ 950 million.